


Almost Beyond

by Lunarelle



Series: Evermore [2]
Category: World of Warcraft
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adventure & Romance, Angst, Character Death, Death, Drama, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Femslash, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Lesbian Character, Lesbian Sex, Love, Pain, Romance, Sex, Tragedy, True Love, War, World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-06
Updated: 2018-04-16
Packaged: 2019-01-30 12:13:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 68
Words: 244,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12653322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunarelle/pseuds/Lunarelle
Summary: Peace is a hard thing to come by. Now that Arthas is dead, Faith wonders what her purpose is. Will she and Sylvanas finally be able to live together in peace? Or will something else come to shatter their world and take them beyond everything they know? Part 2 of the Evermore Series. (Rated E for content. Femslash! Spans until MoP. HC/Romance/Adventure/Drama).





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER: The world of Azeroth belongs solely to Blizzard Entertainment. I am merely a visitor in the wonderful World of Warcraft, although I have created some of the characters.
> 
> Dedicated to those of you who started reading this series and who took the time to leave me comments.  Thank you for reading!

Peace had been hard to come by. Everyone had fought for it, and they wanted to keep it. Nobody wanted to do anything to compromise the difficult victory against the Scourge, which had cost them so many lives.

Life was beginning to get back to normal for the people of Azeroth, although a lot of troops remained in Northrend, cleaning up vestiges of the Scourge, which were still considerable enough to warrant casualty reports.

But things were better now.

It had been four weeks since Arthas had been killed, and his death had paralyzed the undead forces of Northrend, allowing the brave warriors of the Horde and the Alliance to take the upper hand.

This was pronounced on the frozen wastes of the Dragonblight.

Riding near the southern shore of the region, a girl surveyed her surroundings.

At first glance, the girl was striking to behold. She had fair skin, large translucent eyes that were amber in color, and long hair that looked as though it had been made from stands of honey dipped in the sun.

Upon closer examination, though, Faith Everstone was no mere girl. She was a blood elf, a Sin'dorei, one who was skilled in the art of battle. She had fought the Scourge ever since it had invaded her home, and she had a feeling that, even though Arthas was dead, she would be fighting them for a long time to come.

She was close to New Hearthglen, a town that had been founded by the Scarlet Crusade, renamed the Scarlet Onslaught, as a base of operations against the Scourge in that part of Northrend.

Not much was left of the town, save for the buildings. The inhabitants, however, were gone. Sylvanas Windrunner's forces had seen to that.

Faith smiled a little as she thought of Sylvanas.

She'd been away from Undercity for a week now, and was due to go home the following day. Sylvanas would be waiting for her, as she did every week when she returned from her cleanup duties in Northrend.

Now that they were getting the Scourge under control, an easier task than it had been before Arthas had been killed, she could afford to go back to Sylvanas at the end of every week. She had hoped that she'd be able to stay home all the time, but the Argent Crusade still thought her invaluable in the frozen lands.

She had just gone on a routine patrol near Agmar's Hammer, but had found nothing worth of note. She'd had to kill a bear who had been infected with the Plague, but all of the other infected wildlife had been dealt with swiftly. As for the Nerubians in and around Azjol-Nerub, they were quiet, the living creatures having ousted the undead ones from their kingdom.

 _I'm glad I don't have to go back in there_ , she said to herself. The living Nerubians might have been allies, even during the war against the Scourge, but she still felt very uneasy around them.

"What do you say we go home, Lady?" she asked her hawkstrider, a beautiful creature with golden plumage, which Sylvanas had given her.

The hawkstrider cried out happily and surged forward, heading towards Venomspite. The town, which had been a center of Forsaken activity not three weeks previously, was now a simple outpost for any Forsaken wishing to remain in Northrend.

It was strange to be in this part of Dragonblight without needing to dodge the Scourge at every turn. The necropolis of Naxxramas hadn't been very far away from them, and even after it had fallen, members of the Scourge had swarmed there in vast numbers. But the forces at Venomspite and Wintergarde Keep had pooled their resources and cleared most of the Carrion Fields. Fiends still crept out of the nearby mausoleums, but for the most part, they had done a great job.

"Any problems, Major?" asked Overseer Rend as Faith entered the town and stopped in front of the inn.

"None," she told him. "I think we've gotten rid of most of Arthas' fiends. You can be proud, Overseer."

"It's unbelievable how quickly the Scourge fell around here once you killed the Lich King."

Faith only nodded. She was one of the few people who knew that, while Arthas himself was dead, there still was a Lich King sitting atop the Frozen Throne. Without a leader, the Scourge would have run rampant all over the world, perhaps making things more difficult for them. But Bolvar Fordragon was dormant now, and Faith hoped that it was this that had made it possible for the Argent Crusade and its allies to get rid of the Scourge.

"I have the latest reports for Lady Sylvanas," he said to her, handing her several rolls of parchment.

Faith took them, "Excellent, thank you, Overseer. Anything urgent on your end?"

"We heard there was a necromancer down in the mausoleum, which was why undead were crawling out of there. But the dwarves took care of it."

"A necromancer in a graveyard, that's exactly what we need." Faith looked up from the parchment she'd unrolled as a mage walked up to her, telling her that the portal to Undercity was ready. She nodded, thanking the newest member of the Northrend Forsaken Corps.

Getting off of Lady, she followed the mage towards the side of the inn, where a swirling portal was glowing brightly.

"Enjoy your time in Undercity, Major," she said shyly.

"Thanks, Lorena," answered Faith. She led Lady through the portal, and the two of them landed in the courtyard of the Forsaken capital.

Faith took a deep breath, taking in the familiar sight of home. She had always loved the ruined courtyard of Lordaeron because of its sense of tragic history. Headstones were everywhere, as the area had been turned into a cemetery, some engraved with names, others with nothing more than the date of burial etched on them. The Forsaken had buried everybody they could when they had taken over the ruins of Lordaeron.

A lone figure stood in the yard, leaning against a gnarled tree that was a favorite of Faith's. She wore leather armor that fit her body well, displaying the curves and muscles that had been preserved when she had died. A cloak was around her shoulders, its hood down, showing the brittle silver-white hair that fell down past her shoulders.

Sylvanas Windrunner. Banshee Queen of Undercity, and Faith's lover. Her eyes were closed at that moment, and she didn't even turn her head when she heard the portal. To Faith, she looked beautiful, as she always had, but there was an air of sadness around her.

"Sylvanas?" Faith went to her, gently putting a hand on her face.

The queen's glowing red eyes opened, a brief smile playing on her features, "Welcome home, my darling," she said softly. Her voice had the inflection of the undead, a ring that never failed to send shivers running up and down Faith's spine.

"Were you waiting for me?"

Sylvanas nodded, pulling Faith towards her in a hug. Faith wrapped her arms around her, resting her head against hers and closing her eyes. Something was wrong, she could sense it. Sylvanas had been looking sad ever since Arthas had been killed. It was easy to see why, for Faith felt the same way. While they had been fighting Arthas, they had all had a sense of purpose. Of revenge. Now that it was done, they didn't know what to do.

"What do you need, my love?" Faith asked her, kissing her cheek.

"You're home. That's all I need."

Faith smiled, "Imagine that. Imagine also that Tirion told me that I could stay home indefinitely, now."

Sylvanas' eyes opened wide, "What?"

"I've officially been discharged from the Argent Crusade forces in Northrend. I'll go back on Monday to get my things, after which, I'll be all yours."

"You're coming home to be with me?"

"If you'll have me, yes."

"If I'll have…" Sylvanas' mouth found hers in a slow kiss. Faith responded immediately, matching her pace, relishing the taste of her. Many people were stunned when they heard that Faith actually enjoyed kissing an undead elf, but she was so used to it now, and she craved it so much, that she didn't pay attention to that particular detail.

"Is that a yes?" asked Faith, pulling away a little.

"Come back here and kiss me," Sylvanas sounded playful now, all traces of sadness gone.

"Your wish is my command, my lady," said Faith, kissing her again. They stayed there a while, kissing underneath the twisted branches of the old tree. They didn't make love, not there, as the patrolling Kor'kon might not have appreciated such a scene. But both of them wanted to. They had been denying each other for two weeks, wanting to savor the pleasure of being together again, without boundaries.

"Your command, is it?" asked Sylvanas, keeping her hand on the back of Faith's head. "You make me wish I had a heart again, so that you could feel it beating."

Faith took Sylvanas' hand in hers, placing it over her own heart, "My heart is your heart. It beats for you. Every breath I take and every quiver of my heartbeat belong to you."

Sylvanas looked at her, her eyes wide, vulnerable, "Don't say things like that to me… I don't know how to respond to those statements."

"A declaration of love is usually standard at this point."

"I guess. But you know I love you."

"I do know. And you know that I love you."

"Do you still? Even after –."

Faith placed a finger to Sylvanas' lips, "Sylvanas, I didn't let a little thing like your death stop me from loving you. I sure as hell won't let your indiscretion change my mind." She put an arm around the queen's waist, "You still feel guilty about that."

"I shouldn't have done it."

"You stopped. You didn't let her get as far as she wanted to get." She began to walk towards the stables so that she could settle Lady in. The hawkstrider was patiently waiting for them chattering to another hawkstrider stabled nearby. "Was she good?"

Sylvanas looked at Faith sharply, "At what?"

"Kissing you."

"She wasn't you, Faith."

"That's not much of an answer…"

"It is, actually. I could make out with a hundred people, and none of them would compare to you."

Faith took a shaky breath, starting to walk closer to the stables. But a moment later, Sylvanas had caught her arm, and was kissing her with a passion that rivaled most of their time together until then. Faith could barely keep up as she was pushed onto the side of the wall that separated various areas of the yard, feeling Sylvanas tugging at her robe.

"Here?" she gasped.

"Now… right," Sylvanas shoved a hand into her leggings and fingered aside her underwear. "Now."

"What about the –."

Sylvanas kissed her, "I don't care. They can watch." She slipped a finger inside Faith, who gave a small cry of pain as a fingernail grazed her vaginal wall. "That's it, let me hear you."

"Slow d-down…"

"No. I have you, and I'm going to take you." She yanked Faith's leggings and underwear down, kneeling in front of her. Glancing up, she saw that Faith's eyes were wide, her face flushed, and her lips swollen. "Give me better access to you, love."

Her eyes still wide, Faith obeyed, spreading her legs as best she could. The deathly chill of the air was eclipsed by the sudden boiling of her blood as Sylvanas covered her with her mouth, adding a second finger inside of her in the process.

She tried to keep quiet, biting on her hand, but she couldn't. Sylvanas wrenched the cries out of her as she licked and suckled at her flesh, her fingers both gentle and rough, heating up the longer they stayed within her. Faith's muscles quivered at the press of Sylvanas' tongue.

"What's that?" asked the banshee a second later, as Faith let out a string of half-curses, grabbing on to something next to her, a headstone. "Faith?"

"I will kill you if you stop…"

Sylvanas laughed throatily, "Not if I kill you first. Lie down."

Faith complied so quickly that Sylvanas laughed again. She fully pulled off Faith's clothes, leaving her naked between two graves. "You too…"

"Me too what?"

For an answer, Faith pulled a little at Sylvanas' boot.

"You want me naked? Is that what you're telling me?"

A nod. Faith's eyes were practically begging.

"All right."

With infinite slowness, Sylvanas stripped. Every time she revealed more skin, Faith gasped. She reached out to touch her once her chest was bare, but Sylvanas took her hand.

"Shh. Give me a minute, and then I'll taste you again." Her body quivered under Faith's intense gaze. She nearly rushed herself, but wanted to take it slow, wanted Faith to beg for her. She wanted Faith to cry out her release. "Do you know that you're the only thing I've tasted since I became undead?"

Faith's eyes opened wider still.

Sylvanas gently took off the rest of her clothes, laying them aside.

"But you kissed –."

"Now, see, if you're going to ruin the moment by talking about her –."

The second of inattention was Sylvanas' undoing. Faith leapt on her, tackling her to the ground and kissing her fiercely. She wrapped her legs around her waist, locking her in her embrace.

They struggled for dominance, each getting the upper hand for a few seconds before the other took over. Sylvanas' scream startled several birds out of the nearby trees when Faith's fingers burrowed inside her, finding a quick rhythm.

"Oh… Faith wait…" she opened her mouth, her hips rising from the ground to meet Faith's hand. "Baby…"

"Mine… you're mine," snarled Faith, pushing her fingers deeper inside and adding a third one in the process. The slide in and out was easy. Light knew what she'd been thinking about before Faith had arrived…

Sylvanas rested her head against a broken tombstone, letting Faith take over for a while. Just for a while. It felt too good to stop, even for what she had in mind.

"I want you on my tongue…" she managed.

"Come, damn it."

"Not yet."

"You have to, Sylvanas. Please."

"Too soon. By the Titans, Faith… ah…"

"Yes!"

Sylvanas' world changed colors. She cried out as Faith relentlessly continued to stroke the flesh inside of her, causing her to climax a second time. Almost sobbing, she could do nothing but ride it out and wait for Faith to stop.

"Are you trying to kill me?" she asked finally, when Faith slowly pulled her fingers free.

"I wanted to make you come," answered Faith.

"Good job. I don't think I've ever done that twice in a row." She stretched a little, feeling a little too weak to do much of anything. "You need to finish."

"I can finish myself, don't worry." She moved her hand to do just that, but Sylvanas stopped her. "Baby, you can barely move after that."

A chuckle, "Is that what you think?" Crawling to her, lithe as a panther, the banshee queen reached her and buried her head between her thighs. "Oh, you're there." She was almost disappointed, but pressed her tongue right where she knew Faith needed it.

Faith didn't even have a chance to scream. Her body jerked and Sylvanas put an arm around her, holding her down as every muscle in her body tensed, then relaxed in her grip.

"Good girl," she said, lapping the trickle of release like a cat drinking its mother's milk. "It wasn't quite the way I wanted to do this, but it'll do."

"S-Sylvanas… you're going to make me… oh…"

"Hmm? Oh, come again if you need to. I'm not going anywhere right now."

After what could have been an hour, the two of them got dressed again, Faith having conjured a warm wet cloth so that they could clean themselves up.

"I can't believe we just did that."

Sylvanas smirked, "As I said before, welcome home."

"I'll come home a lot more often if that's how you're going to greet me every time."

"After you come back on Monday, you are not leaving my sight again, do you hear me? I've had enough of you being away from me."

Faith smiled gently, fastening the cloak around Sylvanas' shoulders, "It's been hard for you, hasn't it? My being away?"

"No more than usual."

"Sylvanas."

Sylvanas turned away from her, beginning to walk towards the entrance of the city. Faith caught up with her.

"I'll take that as a yes. Would you talk to me?"

"What do you want me to say? That I missed you? Fine, I missed you."

"Will you wait for me? I  _was_  going to stable lady until you distracted me."

She nodded, and Faith found Lady, who had been hiding behind the stables. Putting her in the large stall that had been provided for her, she brushed her and fed her, finally giving her some water. By the time she turned around, she saw Sylvanas standing close. That vulnerable look was in her eyes again.

Neither of them said anything, but Faith kissed her cheek and put an arm around her waist, and Sylvanas' arm slid around her shoulders. Together, they went into the city.

It was some time before they could talk in private, for there were meetings to go to and updates to be heard.

While the Scourge in Northrend seemed to be falling into place, the Scourge of Lordaeron was another matter entirely. In the week she'd been absent, there had been an upsurge of activity in Quel'Thalas and in the Plaguelands.

"The Cenarion Circle has sent its forces to the Western Plaguelands in the hopes of reviving it," Rotvine told her.

"Reviving the Plaguelands? Can they do that?"

"They're certainly going to try. A delegation from Thunder Bluff arrived here the other day. They're going to get themselves set up in just outside of one of the farms to see what they can do."

"What's the situation at Andorhal?" asked Faith.

It was Sylvanas who answered. "Active. We've managed to clear maybe an eighth of the forces out of there, but we have our work cut out for us. The Argent Crusade at Hearthglen's been helping too," she shrugged indicating that she wasn't impressed with the work they'd done so far.

"Would you like me to look into it? I know Tirion will be going to Hearthglen in about a week."

Sylvanas looked at her. Faith read in her eyes that she absolutely didn't want Faith involved, but she didn't want to say anything in front of the others.

"How about I talk to Tirion before I return, and see how the situation develops?" Faith waited for Sylvanas to nod before making a note on the bit of parchment in front of her.

"It's not that I don't want you to fight," Sylvanas told her later on, as Faith got ready for bed.

"It's not?" Faith looked at her, her hands on her hips.

"No. I just want you to get some rest. You're worn out."

"Oh, you had something to do with that earlier."

Sylvanas didn't comment on that, although she would have squirmed had she been on her own, "You need a vacation."

Faith snorted and walked towards where Sylvanas was sitting. Pursing her lips, she straddled her hips, resting her arms on her shoulders, "I'll go on vacation if you come with me."

"You know I can't do that. I left Undercity one too many times and look at what happened."

"Yeah." Faith looked down, the memory of Sylvanas beating her uncomfortable in her mind.

Sylvanas tipped her chin up until their eyes met, "I'm sorry, Faith. I'm sorry for blaming you. I didn't… I know none of what happened was your fault." She kissed her, "I'm sorry."

Faith sighed, "You don't have to be sorry."

"I hate that I hurt you."

"Is that why you've been so sad lately? You feel guilty?"

"I'm not sad." Sylvanas' face suddenly closed off, once again making her look like the banshee queen of Undercity.

Faith ran a thumb over Sylvanas' cold lips before placing a kiss there. "You can talk to me, you know. I'm here for you, whatever you need."

"I just want you home with me. Always."

"Always," whispered Faith to her. She kissed her. "Always."


	2. Chapter 2

Faith awoke with a start, her heart pounding wildly. What was going on? She could sense that something had happened, something big, and quickly got out of bed, putting on the first thing she saw, one of Sylvanas' torn robes.

"Sylvanas?" she called.

There was no answer.

Barefoot, she made her way out of Sylvanas' chambers and into the Royal Quarter. A fine layer of green mist covered the floor, billowing away from her as she walked. She looked at this curiously, not quite understanding what it was. She called Sylvanas' name again.

"In here," called Sylvanas.

Faith's heart leapt in her throat. Her voice… She began to sprint over to where Sylvanas' office was, nearly colliding with the wall in her haste to get to her. "Oh, Sunwell…" she breathed.

Sylvanas was standing in front of the mirror in her office, her blue eyes wide and shocked. Her blue eyes…

"How?" cried Faith, going to her. She turned Sylvanas to face her, feeling dizzy.

She was alive. Alive as Faith had known her. Her skin was the same peach color as hers, if a little darker because she had tanned easier than Faith ever had. Her eyes looked like a piece of sky had been placed into them, glowing softly. Her lips were red and full, roses waiting to be kissed.

She was warm against Faith's hand.

"Sylvanas…"

Her lover kissed her. Faith gasped in shock, kicking the office door closed and kissing her back.

"You're alive, Sylvanas… did it work? When I killed Arthas… did it work?"

"I don't know, baby. I think so." Sylvanas appeared absolutely stunned.

"How do you feel?"

"Ask me later, for now, I just want you. Right here, right now."

They made love on Sylvanas' desk, spilling ink and not caring. It was rapturous, everything that it should have always been for them. No death, no taste of decay, only heat and passion. Sweat glistened on their bodies as they sated each other over and over again, unable to get enough.

"I love you," said Sylvanas. "I love you, my Faith. My beauty."

Faith gasped, her legs around Sylvanas' waist, "I love you."

"You have to marry me, Faith."

"Yes… yes, yes…" Faith kissed her hungrily, and they made love again until they couldn't anymore. Sylvanas' breath was sweet against her skin as they lay curled up in her office chair, trying to get their energy back. Faith was still stroking her, enjoying the little gasps coming from the back of her throat. "Is this real?" she asked.

"Baby, I can feel the blood in my veins. Real blood." She took Faith's hand and placed it over her heart, "You feel that?"

A tear rolled down Faith's cheek, "Your heart is beating…"

Sylvanas had no idea how it was possible that her heart had suddenly started beating again, bringing her back to life. She had woken up that way, not remembering having fallen asleep after she and Faith had made love the previous evening.

Maybe Faith was right. Maybe it had taken her shattering Frostmourne for her to come back to life. Arthas had imprisoned her soul within the blade. Maybe it was back with her now. She certainly felt things she hadn't felt since she before had died. Her heart was pounding in her chest, she felt hot where Faith was rubbing her, and she didn't feel like killing herself anymore.

She felt happy. Really happy. For the first time in a long time, she felt whole.

"Oh, my Faith," she whispered, kissing her again. Her blood was boiling like it never had before. Why had they waited so long to be together? They could have made love every single day, and it would have been perfect. Beautiful. As amazing as it was now.

It was some time before they emerged from the office, their arms around each other. The Forsaken looked at Sylvanas in awe, murmuring and bowing. The bells of Undercity began to ring, proclaiming that Sylvanas Windrunner was no longer a banshee, but a living, breathing queen.

"You don't need to wear black anymore, my love," she told Faith.

Faith looked down at what she was wearing, "Oh… I guess I don't. But I've gotten used to it now."

"I'd like to see you in some golden robes, something to match your eyes." Sylvanas kissed her, sliding her tongue into her mouth, "They're glowing again, you know."

"Your kiss is warm," whispered Faith. She ran her fingers through Sylvanas' golden hair. It was so silky, so beautiful. She could have touched it forever.

"Let's go to Silvermoon for a while. I want to buy you some new clothes. I don't ever want to see you wearing black again."

"Whatever you want, my love."

Less than an hour later, they appeared in the elven city, noticing at once that the same green mist that had been in Undercity was there too. It was attractive, if a little eerie, but Faith and Sylvanas paid no attention to it as they browsed several stores, picking out some new clothes to celebrate their new life. She insisted that Faith keep on some beautiful robes made of sparkling golden material, which looked stunning on her. Sylvanas, for her part, bought new shining silver armor that fit her like a glove and made Faith ache for her.

"I don't believe it," said a voice as they walked out of the store. "I heard it, and I'm seeing it, but I don't believe it. Sylvanas Windrunner, alive and well."

It was Lor'themar, and he was looking happier than Faith had seen him in a long time. Both of his eyes were whole, the black eye patch gone. Several nearby women shot him covetous looks as they saw him.

"Your eyes, Lor'themar," said Sylvanas. "How did that happen?"

"I woke up that way. I think it was the defeat of the Scourge, don't you?"

She nodded, "It must have been. I woke up alive this morning."

"It's amazing," said Lor'themar. "Faith, are you okay?"

She looked at Sylvanas and smiled, putting an arm around her, "Oh, I'm better than okay. We're getting married."

"I knew it!" Lor'themar gave a little bounce, pumping his fist in the air, "Oh, it's going to be great. Will you have the wedding here? You have to. The whole city will turn up."

Sylvanas nodded, "Yes, I think so." She kissed Faith's temple, closing her eyes, her heart swelling with pride. She was finally going to be hers, that whimsical creature she had loved for so long. "I love you."

"I love you," whispered Faith to her. Their eyes locked. "I love you so much."

"Okay, okay, stop, you're killing me here." Lor'themar was grinning, "When do you want to do this?"

"As soon as possible," said Sylvanas. "But weddings take a long time to plan."

"That's why we have our mages. Would tomorrow be too soon?"

Faith's eyes popped wide, " _Tomorrow_?" she squealed.

"Yes, tomorrow. What do you think?"

Faith and Sylvanas looked at each other. Their cheeks were red, but their hands had turned cold with sudden fear. "Do you want to?"

Sylvanas nodded immediately, "Yes. Yes. Tomorrow would be perfect."

The rest of the day passed in a whirlwind of activity. Lor'themar, acting as best man for the two of them, immediately sent Faith to the best bridal shop in Silvermoon, where she tried on several gowns before finding something that was breathtaking. The gown she chose was a softly shimmering fantasy, with a bodice that hugged her chest and her waist, and the material flowing from the bodice down to her feet.

Lor'themar was stunned when he saw her. "Oh, Faith… you look beautiful. Sylvanas will die when she sees you."

"I don't want her to die, Lor'themar, not again."

"You know what I mean." He kissed her cheek, "Gorgeous. You need to get this dress. We'll pay for it, so you don't need to worry."

"You don't have to do that," she protested.

"I will never forget the fact that you saved my life," he told her. "So I don't mind paying for the wedding. You don't have to worry about anything but your own happiness. It's been a long time coming."

Faith didn't know what to say. She could only go along with everything that was going on as she picked out her own flowers and decided on what food they were going to have. The best bakery in Silvermoon was already working on a cake for them.

She didn't see Sylvanas until the next day, being as, according to Lor'themar, it was bad luck to see the bride before the wedding.

Her hands shook as she got dressed. Was it really happening? Was she going to marry Sylvanas? She looked out the window as someone did her hair, seeing that the green mist was a little thicker that morning. Nobody was saying anything about the mist, and, while it was weird, she didn't want to say anything about it either. What could they do about it?

Someone knocked on the door to the room, and she opened it, seeing someone she had never expected to see alive again.

"Rotvine? Is that you?" she cried. "You… You're alive!" She flung herself at him, and he hugged her tightly. His hair was a shiny steel grey, but had been stylishly cropped on his head. He was a handsome man, and looked strong despite the age he was showing. He wore a nice suit with a mageroyal flower threaded through the top button. "I'm so happy to see you!"

"Hello, my dear," he told her. "Look at you. You look so beautiful. Are you excited?"

"I don't know how to feel. I'm marrying Sylvanas today, just like that. It feels strange, like it's not supposed to happen."

"But you want it to happen, don't you?"

She nodded, "More than anything in the world."

"Well then, let's get you married!" he grinned and handed her the bouquet of white wildflowers she had chosen. "Come on. Sylvanas is waiting for you."

They went outside, where a horse-drawn carriage waited to take her to the wedding site, just outside of Fairbreeze Village. The ride was very pleasant, and they passed throngs of guests, a lot of whom she recognized as the people she had fought with over the years. Everyone called out to her, clapping and congratulating her, ignoring the green mist completely.

Faith felt nervous. Something wasn't right about all this, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

"Just relax," said Rotvine. "You and Sylvanas deserve this day after everything that you've been through."

There was no denying that, it was true. But she couldn't shake the feeling that had come over her the previous day. Something was definitely wrong.

But whatever that something was, she put it out of her mind as the carriage arrived on the outskirts of Fairbreeze Village.

The area had been decorated with hundreds of twinkling fires in tiny glass jars that floated in midair, just below the trees. The heady fragrance of flowers hung in the air, with petals having been artfully spread to form the aisle that divided the area in two. Guests sat on rustic wooden benches, dressed in their finest clothes, all of them smiling.

Faith couldn't breathe. Sylvanas stood near the altar, looking incredible in snow-white leggings and a matching tunic that ended just past her hips. Her hair was down, shining in the green light, and light makeup on her face enhanced her beauty.

"Are you ready?" asked Rotvine.

She could only nod, unable to take her eyes off Sylvanas, who appeared to have been struck dumb.

_ Oh, Faith _ , she thought.  _My love, you look so beautiful._

She smiled as she watched her walking down the aisle. She felt herself trembling with fear and excitement. Would she be a good wife to her Faith? Would be finally be happy together?

Faith reached her, and immediately took her arm. Together, they turned towards the priest who would be officiating the ceremony.

"Sylvanas!" screamed Faith.

Arthas was in front of them, Frostmourne glinting evilly in his hand. His face was grey, his eyes crazy and his blonde hair turned bone-white.

"Faith, get out of here," snapped Sylvanas.

"No! No, I'm not leaving you again! I won't!"

Sylvanas pulled her backwards, a sharp whistle on her lips.

"Kill them," said Arthas.

People began to scream as a mass of undead began to swarm the wedding. Rotvine was the first to fall, and Faith screamed again as she saw his corpse stirring. The flesh disappeared from his face until he looked like the person Faith knew now, except for the murderous glint in his dimly glowing eyes.

"Faith,  _go_!"

"Never!" She flung herself in front of Sylvanas, and, through the green mist, she saw Frostmourne, aiming right for her heart. She couldn't think of a single spell to stop what happened next.

The sword pierced her body, blood spurting over the beautiful dress she'd put on. A trickle of it ran from the corner of her lip, and dimly, she heard Sylvanas' shriek of agony. Arthas pulled the sword out of her, bringing a fresh flare of unbearable pain, and as she fell forward, he caught her, beginning to drag her away from the devastating scene unfolding around them.

People were dying. Lor'themar was attempting to fight back the undead, but couldn't. His eye was hanging from his socket, but still he fought on while rangers around him fell and were reanimated by spider-like necromancers.

"Faith!"

Sylvanas tried to fight back, but she couldn't. She felt weak, cold. Looking down, she saw her white clothes turning black, splattered with flecks of mud and blood. She tried to follow Faith, but the undead were keeping her where she was. She could do nothing. She felt herself dying, heard Faith's screams as she was tortured and violated. She screamed as well, the cry sounding like a banshee's wail, hurting the few living people around her.

The green mist closed in around her.

…

Sylvanas opened her eyes slowly. The screams had faded, as had the mist. She was back in Undercity, she saw, and several people, including Ambassador Sunsorrow, were staring at her, as though afraid of her.

"Sylvanas!" shrieked Faith from the corridor.

"Yeah, Faith, I'm here!" she called back, leaping to her feet and running towards the sound. She caught Faith in her arms as she sprinted towards her, holding her tighter than she ever had before. Faith was sobbing, shaking, and looked so pale she could have been a walking corpse. "Shh, honey, it was just a dream, that's all it was."

"N-no… it was  _real_!" Faith sobbed into her arms. "The mist… why? What happened? Did you… how…"

"Baby, it's okay," she said, although she definitely did  _not_  feel okay.

"Did you… did you… did we dream the same…" Faith couldn't even seem to finish a sentence, she was crying too hard for that.

Sylvanas picked her up, carrying her to the throne room and sitting down with her in her lap. Faith curled up on her, shaking from head to toe, and Sylvanas kissed her gently, "Calm down, my darling. It was just a bad dream."

"A bad dream… Sylvanas, that was a nightmare. So real… it felt so real…"

"What did you dream?"

"There was mist… you were alive, Sylvanas, you were alive…" she burst into fresh tears again, feeling broken inside.

"Green mist? You saw that too?"

Faith nodded, incapable of speaking now. Sylvanas held her, calling for someone to get Faith some blankets and warmer clothes, as she was wearing nothing but the short nightgown she only wore in bed with her.

"Shh, my love, it's all right. Relax." She couldn't shake her own despair, remembering every bit of her own dream. The way she and Faith had feverishly made love in her office. The way she had looked in that beautiful wedding dress. The sound she had made when Frostmourne had impaled her. Making her own sound of despair, she held on to her tighter, refusing to let her go when someone brought over a quilt.

Rotvine appeared suddenly next to the throne, looking troubled.

"My lady!" he called. "Faith! You're all right!"

"We're fine, Carrick," said Sylvanas. "Somewhat."

"A nightmare," he said. "It was a nightmare."

"Yes, we know. Faith and I, I think, had the same one."

He shook his head, "The Emerald Nightmare, Lady Sylvanas."

"The  _Emerald Nightmare_?" cried Sylvanas, so shocked that she nearly stood up. She had heard of it, but only when it came to druids. She never thought anybody else would be affected by it. "What's going on?"

"Druids are coming from Thunder Bluff to speak to you, my lady. Things have been very bad for them."

Sylvanas nodded, "All right, I need to get her dressed, so if they arrive while we're gone, stall them. Has anybody else here been affected?"

"All of the druids in Undercity spoke of a green mist coating everything. I didn't really understand the rest, they were speaking Taur-ahe."

Standing, Sylvanas kept Faith in her arms, "That's what happened in my nightmare. There was mist everywhere, but nobody was saying anything."

"You were alive…" mumbled Faith. She was still shaking. "You too, Carrick… you were alive."

"Shh, my darling. I've got you." Sylvanas looked at Rotvine, "Could you come with me? I need to wash her and it'll be faster if you can conjure up hot water."

Rotvine followed them to Sylvanas' chambers, which bore unmistakable signs of a struggle. Faith's nightmare had been so intense that she had broken the bed by thrashing around so much. He got to work immediately, filling a tub with hot water while Sylvanas slowly undressed Faith. She was covered in bruises, and he hissed as he saw them.

"Do you need anything else?" he asked Sylvanas, who shook her head.

"Thanks, I've got it from here." She put the nightgown aside. "Why is it that every time something happens, I end up giving you a bath?"

Faith cracked a smile, "Because you want to see me naked, I'm sure."

Sylvanas stared at her bruises, gently running a hand over them, "Oh, my Faith… that dream… did you dream that we made love too?"

A slow nod, "Yes. You were so beautiful, my love…"

"Shh, don't cry, it's okay." Carefully, Sylvanas picked Faith up again and put her in the tub. Stripping quickly, she climbed in after her, adding drops of Faith's blood orange soap to the water, which began to bubble immediately, sending its citrusy fragrance into the air.

Faith closed her eyes, leaving back against Sylvanas, "We were getting married."

The banshee queen tensed, "Yes. I dreamt that too." How could they have shared the same dream? And how could it have been so vivid? Sylvanas felt a throb between her legs as she remembered how vigorous Faith had been in her office.

"Sylvanas…"

"I know, my darling. I know." She wrapped her arms around Faith, holding her close for a moment.

By the time they were dressed again and returned to the throne room, the delegation from Thunder Bluff had arrived. Maybe Sylvanas was imagining it, because she didn't have a lot of experience reading tauren expressions, but she thought they looked absolutely exhausted.

One of the tauren, a white-spotted female, came forward and bowed, "Lady Windrunner, my name is Beruna Springhoof, and I am a member of the Cenarion Circle."

"Welcome to Undercity, druid," replied Sylvanas, sitting down and pulling Faith to sit on her lap, not caring about what anybody might think about them right then. "May I offer you some refreshment?"

"Thank you, but that will not be necessary."

Faith and Rotvine conjured several fluffy cushions for the tauren envoys to sit on. She also conjured a chair for herself, but Sylvanas wouldn't let her go, keeping an arm securely around her.

"We understand that it was the Emerald Nightmare," began Sylvanas in a low voice.

Beruna nodded, "Yes, your Majesty. Almost everyone in the Cenarion Circle was affected in some way or another, although the Night Elves had it worse than we did."

"What happened?" asked Faith.

"Apparently, it was discovered that Archdruid Staghelm was poisoning Malfurion Stormrage, and had been doing so for a very long time, keeping him trapped in the Nightmare. From what we've been able to find out, he himself had been corrupted by Lord Xavius, who was ruling the Nightmare."

"Xavius," said Sylvanas. "You mean the satyr who's supposed to be dead."

"Yes. But he's very much alive. He also corrupted Teldrassil. He had some kind of branch from the Nightmare's version of a World Tree. The reason everyone woke up was because Malfurion was able to destroy it, and trap Xavius at the same time."

Faith squeezed Sylvanas' hand, "So… it's over now? Has the Emerald Nightmare been defeated?"

"For now," said Beruna. "We cannot be sure whether or not it will return. What we do know is that Malfurion Stormrage is awake again. He and Tyrande Whisperwind are getting married, I hear."

Married. Sylvanas closed her eyes briefly, holding Faith closer.

"How long did this last for?" she asked.

"Over a week. Everyone's been out for that amount of time."

"So  _that's_  why I'm so hungry!" exclaimed Faith. "Wait, how did I not get dehydrated?"

"That was me" said Rotvine. "I gave you some water every hour when you were quiet."

Faith and Sylvanas both looked at him, "Thank you, my friend," whispered Faith. Sylvanas rubbed her back slowly.

He shrugged, "I didn't want to get on her bad side," he nodded towards Sylvanas. "And allowing you to die would have definitely gotten me on her bad side."

Sylvanas chuckled once before looking at the druids again, "What can we expect from this?"

"Everything should be back to normal now. I do not know whether the nightmares you had were significant, but they should recede."

Faith pressed herself closer against Sylvanas, who just held her. "I watched Faith die a dozen deaths before I woke up. I heard her screaming in too many ways to count. Can I expect to see that again?"

"We don't know," said another druid, a young male this time. "The Nightmare was powerful. It targeted our biggest fears and weaknesses." He seemed confused, "Pardon me, your Majesty, but I did not think that you slept."

"I don't. I can rest, but I don't need it. And I haven't slept since the night before I died. I certainly don't remember falling asleep a week ago."

Ambassador Sunsorrow looked at her, opening his mouth to speak, "You didn't really fall asleep, so much as lose consciousness. When that happened, we went to get Faith, and found her asleep. We couldn't wake her up, which is when Rotvine began to look for answers."

"Please convey our thanks to Malfurion Stormrage for taking care of the Nightmare," said Faith to Beruna, shifting her weight a little. "And please congratulate him and High Priestess Whisperwind on their marriage. I can only imagine how happy they are…" her voice trailed off and she looked at Sylvanas, who shook her head very briefly.

"Thank the rest of the Cenarion Circle as well," added Sylvanas, following Faith's lead. She wasn't one for thanking anybody for doing their job, but the nightmare that had gripped her had been too vivid.

She didn't think that she would ever forget the sound of Faith's screams as she was raised. They would haunt her until she found true death.


	3. Chapter 3

It was difficult for Faith to sleep.

Two weeks after the defeat of the Emerald Nightmare, she couldn't shake the new dreams that plagued her slumber. Recurring dreams where Sylvanas was alive and making love to her, only to die as Arthas laughed made it impossible for her to get any rest. It was better when Sylvanas was around, because she could usually calm her with a word and a cuddle. But Faith could tell that her lover was getting frustrated.

"You're still not sleeping," she remarked one morning.

"I'm fine, Sylvanas."

"I didn't hear you screaming. Did you put a spell on the room?"

When Faith didn't answer, Sylvanas looked up from the note she had been writing, waiting.

"I don't want to bother you with it."

"Yes you do. I know you, Faith, better than anybody here. You want me to help you. But if you don't tell me what's going on, there's nothing I can do."

"You can't stop the recurring nightmares, Sylvanas, so why would I talk to you about them? We had the same one, and I can't figure out what it means."

Sylvanas chuckled, "You know exactly what it means, Faith. I know what it means for me, to have watched you die so many times without being able to do a thing about it. I never understood what you felt, not really. Knowing that I had died like that. And I know it was just a nightmare, but," she shrugged. "It felt real."

Faith walked to her, and Sylvanas moved her chair away from the desk so that she could sit on her lap. "You don't want me to die."

"I think we've established that already."

They shared a gentle kiss, "I didn't want you to die either."

"Yes, I know." She rubbed Faith's sides slowly, "I really liked that gold dress, though. You looked like the sun."

"Too expensive," whispered Faith, curling up against her and closing her eyes. She was asleep a minute later.

She awoke in the exact same position a couple of hours later. Sylvanas' arm was keeping her tucked against her as she finished her correspondence. Someone had wrapped a blanket around her so that she wouldn't be too cold, and for a moment, she considered going back to sleep.

But Sylvanas knew she was awake. She briefly looked at her, leaning in close and kissing her, "We've been summoned to Orgrimmar."

"We have?"

A nod, "Most of the Northrend troops are coming home, and there's a big celebration that the warchief would like us to attend. We leave the day after tomorrow."

"I suppose that means I should get ready."

"You should, yes."

"But I'm comfortable here."

Sylvanas gave her the kind of look that would have struck fear into the heart of the bravest warrior, but Faith merely cuddled her some more, making her smile a little.

"How long will we be there for?"

"As long as we're needed."

Faith reluctantly got to her feet, giving Sylvanas a last kiss, "I like this. You and I together that way. We should have that more often."

"Any more of this and I'll have to find someone else to run the city. You keep distracting me."

"Oh, you love it."

She really did, although she wouldn't have admitted it, not even to Faith. It reminded her of what they could have had together. A quiet life filled with nothing but love.

"You're looking sad again."

"Faith."

"I know, I know, I'm going. But you're still looking sad."

They left for Orgrimmar in due time, leaving Rotvine to take care of Undercity in their absence, something that they both felt was well within his capabilities.

"I hope I won't disappoint you," he said.

"You could never disappoint us, Carrick," said Faith to him.

"If I could blush, I think that I would right about now, Faith."

"She has that effect on people," murmured Sylvanas. "If you need anything, send someone to us in Orgrimmar, and Faith will teleport us back."

The newly repaired  _Windrunner_  was waiting for them in Tirisfal Bay. Faith had been working on it since it had docked there a few weeks previously, and Sylvanas had to admit that it looked great. "How did you get it to shine like that?"

Faith winked, "Magic."

There were only twenty of them going to Orgrimmar this time around, but Sylvanas knew that some of her Forsaken troops would be coming back from Warsong Hold, hence the ship. She settled into her cabin with Faith, urging her lover to get some sleep, but Faith just shook her head.

"I don't want to sleep," she said, stifling a yawn.

"I know you had another nightmare last night."

"I didn't."

"I was in the room with you, Faith."

"You didn't wake me."

"No. I wanted to see whether you'd be able to get out of it on your own, which you did eventually." She took something from her bag, a phial of clear potion, "Here."

"The last time I drank an unknown potion, it started to kill me."

"It started to, but didn't actually kill you, and I'm working on a better version of that with Lydon."

"For what purpose?"

"It can always be useful." She walked to Faith, pressing the phial into her hand, "This is a Dreamless potion. Hopefully it will keep you under long enough to get some real rest."

"If it doesn't work and I get another nightmare, I'll be stuck with no way of getting out."

"It'll work. The druids made it for you. Please take it."

Faith never could resist Sylvanas for very long. With a sigh, she got into bed, just as the ship began to move, and drank the potion. She didn't want to go to sleep. Sylvanas saw her eyes widen in fear as the potion immediately took effect.

"Shh, my darling, it's all right. I'm here." She kissed her forehead, "Sleep."

Faith did. For hours. Sylvanas had duties to tend to, but she checked on Faith every twenty minutes, satisfied that she wasn't dreaming. She looked peaceful in this dreamless slumber, and Sylvanas wished that she would one day be able to bring peace to her. But she didn't see how it was possible.

"My Faith," she said quietly, kneeling by her bedside and taking her hand. "You've been through so much."

"Sylvanas…"

She was waking up. "Come back to me, my darling."

"Nnn… sleep with me."

"Nothing about that suggestion will lead either of us to sleep, even if I were still alive."

Faith smiled, opening her eyes, "How long have I been asleep?"

"About ten hours." She watched, unashamed, as Faith stretched, "How do you feel?"

"Okay, actually. Do you need me to do anything?"

"Yeah, get more rest. The Sunwell knows you won't get any once we reach Orgrimmar."

She was right about that. They found that the great orcish city had changed since the last time they had been there. It certainly seemed more festive, the powerful smell of ale permeating the air, along with the smell of blood coming from the slaughterhouses, where, apparently, dozens of animals were being butchered for a great feast.

Thrall was waiting for them with Lor'themar, who had evidently just arrived as well, as he hadn't yet changed out of his traveling clothes.

"You're both looking well," said the warchief. "Much better than the last time I saw you."

There was an uncomfortable silence, but Faith took Sylvanas' hand, "Thank you, Warchief," she told him. "You're looking well too."

"We heard you had been affected by the Emerald Nightmare," said Lor'themar. "Is that true? Are you okay?"

Faith didn't answer, so Sylvanas spoke for her, "Yes, we're fine. It was quite an experience, let's just put it that way. One we don't want to bring up again."

Thrall nodded, "Understood. Well, the warriors should be arriving within the hour, if you'd like to freshen up. Cairne Bloodhoof went to get Garrosh and the others."

"How is Cairne?" asked Faith.

"He seemed to be doing well. Ah, Faith, your tauren family's here, by the way."

"They are?"

"We're right here, sweetheart."

Faith turned around, giving a small squeak of joy. Releasing Sylvanas' hand, she went to Atalo and hugged him tightly, before hugging her Tauren mother, and finally, turning to Hamu.

It didn't seem as though losing an arm had affected him much, although it was odd to see him that way. He was good-humored as ever, lifting Faith off her feet and nuzzling her forehead playfully.

"You look good, little sister," he said.

"Little sister, I'm older than you!"

"Yes, but you're shorter, so you're my little sister."

Faith grinned, "How are you, my brother?"

"Can't complain. The ladies seem to find me more attractive with just one arm. I wish I had known that before, I would have asked a Nerubian to eat it a long time ago."

"That is not a matter to joke about," said Atalo. "Even though it did lead to a good thing."

"A good thing?" wondered Faith.

"I don't know if you remember a female named Ishaka?"

Faith thought for a moment, and a vague figure came to her mind of a shy, pale grey tauren, "Of the Plainhorn clan?"

"That's her," said Taisha. "Apparently, she and your brother have been very… close since his return."

"How close?" Faith's eyes were wide.

Hamu glanced at Sylvanas, looking apologetic, "She has agreed to be my life-mate."

"Really?" Sylvanas winced at the high pitch of Faith's voice, but had to smile when she launched herself at her brother again, "That's amazing! When did that happen?"

"About three weeks ago. You know, she and I had been talking for some time and… she can't wait to meet you. You will come to the ceremony, won't you?"

"Of course I will!" exclaimed Faith.

"Lady Sylvanas, we would be honored if you would join us as well," said Atalo.

"I appreciate the offer, Master Raincaller," she told him, already planning on not attending. She was afraid that going to a wedding with Faith would end with the two of them sadder than they already were about their situation.

Faith seemed to read her mind and went to her, taking her hand again and squeezing it. She squeezed back, hoping that would suffice.

"You're not going to come, are you?" she asked her quietly when they moved to the stands that had been erected to welcome the warriors back. "Are you afraid I'm going to ask you to marry me again?"

"Are you telling me that you haven't been thinking about it lately?"

"Every day. But I won't ask you again."

"No?"

She shook her head, "There's only so many times I can take a refusal, Sylvanas. If I ask you again and you refuse me, I won't take it well. So I'd rather spare myself the pain." She looked out at the crowd or orcs, tauren and trolls that were gathered, "Besides, you might decide to finally ask me someday."

She said that last statement in such a low voice that Sylvanas chose not to respond to it. However, she couldn't ignore the pain she saw etched on her face. Leaning over, she pressed her lips to Faith's cheek, "We'll talk about this later, all right?"

Faith's smile didn't touch her eyes, "No we won't."

Trumpets sounded, and Sylvanas was forced to let the conversation go as the returning Northrend troops marched through the gates of Orgrimmar to thunderous applause. She didn't cheer, nor did Faith, although she did smile when she saw Cairne Bloodhoof greeting Thrall. There were a few Forsaken sprinkled with the troops, but hardly enough to matter. Sylvanas could only guess what had happened to the others. She would need to investigate that.

They moved to the area that had been reserved for the banquet, where what looked like a hundred boars were roasting over an open fire. She sat down with the other leaders, while Faith took a seat with her family. She looked sad.

 _I can't win_.

Halfway through the banquet, she excused herself, wanting to be alone and get away from what she considered to be an excessive celebration. She would have never done such a thing in Undercity, not even for her lover.

She wasn't alone long. She counted to ten, hoping that Faith would take the hint and leave, but when she turned around, she was surprised to see that it wasn't Faith at all who had been behind her, but Atalo.

"I was under the impression that the two of you were close again," he said to her.

"We are."

"But she is still hurting."

"The Emerald Nightmare brought back some pain for us both, I can't help that."

"But you could. She wants to be your wife, you know that."

Oh, that was the last conversation she wanted to have with anybody. "If I were alive, I would marry her in a second. But I do not want her to marry the dead. My position on this hasn't changed."

"Sylvanas, for better or worse, Faith  _is_  married to you. She loves you. The two of you are together. You share each other's joys and pains. You are there for each other. What do you think marriage is?"

"I will not change my mind."

"No. I can see that you will not. But if that is the case, then I wonder what it is that you're doing with her now. What is she to you? Your girlfriend? Your companion? Your lover? Would it really be that much of a stretch to consider her your wife?"

Sylvanas didn't answer, turning away from the tauren. "What do you want me to do, break up with her? I tried that, it didn't work."

"Drop it, Atalo," came Faith's voice. Sylvanas glanced back, seeing her with her hand on Atalo's shoulder. "Please don't confront her about this. I know why you're doing it, and I appreciate it, but it won't do any good."

Atalo murmured something, gave Faith a hug, and went back towards the banquet. Faith stayed where she was, watching her.

Sylvanas didn't say a word to her, but after about ten minutes, she went to her and put an arm around her waist, kissing her forehead, "Thank you," she whispered.

"Do you want to sneak away? We could go back to the ship."

She didn't deserve someone like Faith. "No. I'm okay, don't worry."

"Who me? Worry? About you? Where did you get an idea like that?"

Sylvanas kissed her, "I'm sorry."

"Listen to me," said Faith, putting both her hands on Sylvanas' face. "Do you love me?"

"You know I do. I don't deserve you, but I love you."

"Then it's all I need. We don't need to make it official. I want to, but it's okay if you don't. And of course you deserve me."

Sylvanas had a hard time believing that Faith had suddenly changed her mind about marriage. "You're really okay with us not making this 'official', as you say?"

"I don't want to lose you. Being married to you wouldn't be a guarantee, would it? You'd still be able to leave me, one way or another." The realization had come to her a short time previously, but it didn't make it any less real to her. As long as she was with Sylvanas, nothing else mattered to her.

"I'm not leaving you. Why would you think that I would leave you?"

"One day, you'll find someone better than –."

Sylvanas put a hand to Faith's lips, "No. I won't. If I couldn't be with you, I wouldn't be with anybody."

"Not even Nathanos?" asked Faith innocently.

"What does  _he_  have to do with anything?"

"He liked you when he was training under you."

"He did?" Sylvanas sounded shocked. "You knew about this? And you didn't tell me?"

"What, and risk you acting like your sisters and go crazy for a human man? Nope. I wanted you all to myself. I got you, too."

"You fiend." Sylvanas tackled her, and Faith screamed as she began to tickle her mercilessly.

"I give up! I give up!" she squealed.

Sylvanas rubbed her nose against hers, and kissed her gently, "We should get back. Come sit with me."

Out of breath, Faith nodded. She stayed close to Sylvanas for the rest of the day, except when she and the other Horde leaders were asked to a meeting.

She came out of it looking troubled, taking Faith aside almost immediately.

"What is it?" she asked.

Sylvanas pursed her lips, "Thrall has learned of some elemental unrest, and he wants to look into it."

"Elemental unrest?" Faith cocked her head to the side, "Is it related to the Nightmare?"

"He doesn't know. But he's going to be working closer with the Earthen Ring to figure it out." She paused, "To do this, he's stepping down as Warchief of the Horde."

"Stepping down?" yelped Faith. "Who's going to replace him?"

"Garrosh Hellscream."

Faith burst into laughter. "Garrosh Hellscream, Warchief of the Horde… That's a good one, Sylvanas, really."

"Do I look like I'm joking?"

"Oh, come on, you can't be serious. He's a good warrior and everything, but he's no leader."

But the look on Sylvanas' face was perfectly serious. She was telling the truth.

"Sylvanas… he hates the Sin'dorei. And he hates the Forsaken even more."

"As if I weren't aware of that," she muttered. "He won't make our lives easy."

Faith shook her head, "When is this taking place?"

"Effective immediately."

Wonderful news. Faith didn't know what to think about that. Having fought with him in Northrend, more or less, she knew that he had great qualities, but she was convinced that he wasn't fit to lead the Horde. "What are we going to do?"

"Do? There's nothing we can do about this. The decision's been made, and he accepted."

"You can't tell me that everyone's all right with it."

Sylvanas didn't need to answer. It didn't matter what they thought, only that Thrall had decided to step down, and had chosen his successor.

"It should have been put to a vote."

Putting both her hands on Faith's shoulders, Sylvanas looked at her squarely, "Faith. Garrosh Hellscream is the new Warchief of the Horde, and we're going to have to make the best of it. We can't change it, as much as I know you wish you could."

Faith looked away from her piercing gaze, "All right."

Sylvanas kissed her forehead and walked away to ready the ship, as they would be returning to Undercity the very next day, despite having only been in Orgrimmar for less than twenty-four hours.

With a sigh, Faith shook her head again and made her way back to the banquet area, where most people were still partying. However, a strong brown arm shot out from behind a bush and grabbed her hand so painfully that she heard a couple of bones splintering.

"There's no need to scream, Major," came Garrosh's voice. He walked out from behind a bush, and Faith realized immediately that he had heard her talk with Sylvanas.

"And what… exactly… do you get from breaking my hand, Garrosh?" gasped Faith, glancing around. There were several people not far away from them, but Garrosh was effectively blocking what he was doing from view.

"A chance to talk to you."

"What about?"

He released her hand, "You don't think I'm fit to be Warchief."

"No, I don't. I don't think you're fit to be a leader, Garrosh. You're a war hound. You're good with battle strategies, not stuff like this."

If he was surprised by what she was telling him, he didn't show it. Instead, he smiled, "What would you know about it?"

"I know that the role of warchief is one of ambassador. Not just an ambassador to all of the factions within the Horde, but you need to be a diplomat when it comes to the Alliance as well. And we've all heard of what you did to that Alliance ship off the coast of Northrend as you were returning here."

"That ship was in our waters."

"After being caught in a storm. What you did was uncalled for." She looked at him, "As I said, you know war. You know how to battle. But this isn't your forte, Garrosh."

"You don't know that."

"Except I do. Although I have to admire the fact that you're confronting me about what you heard me say." Faith took a deep breath, "I have to think about the way you treated me while I was at Warsong Hold. You had absolutely no respect for me."

"You were a soldier, nothing more."

"And every single soldier deserves respect, especially in that kind of situation. Things are hard enough in combat without having one's commanding officer treating everyone like dirt."

Garrosh looked at her, "I'll prove you wrong. I will make a great warchief for the Horde."

Faith looked right back at him, "I hope that you do. And I will be the first one to apologize to you when that time comes."


	4. Chapter 4

The sea was almost black, reflecting the dark steely grey of the stormy sky. The clouds brightened momentarily as lightning streaked across them, the thunderclap reaching the people on the ship seconds later.

It had not been an easy journey back from Orgrimmar. They had been forced to delay their departure from Durotar by a day because of the weather, and had lost an additional two days, having had to be careful while navigating the waters.

Below deck, Faith was sorely regretting not having teleported herself and Sylvanas back to Undercity. She was feeling so ill now that she couldn't even think about the necessary spell to accomplish the task. The ship was rocking too much anyway, and she was afraid her spell would go awry.

She wasn't the only one suffering ill effects from the turbulent voyage. Several orcs, trolls, and tauren had been assigned to outposts in the Western Plaguelands, and had therefore boarded the Forsaken ship to the Eastern Kingdoms. All of them were now below deck, lying down and trying not to lose whatever remained of their dignity.

The door to her cabin opened and Sylvanas staggered in, her hand on the wall to keep her balance.

"By the light of the sun, I haven't rocked like that since I drank five pints of ale one day during Winter's Veil," she said, quickly taking a seat on Faith's bed.

Despite feeling as though her stomach was about to turn itself inside out, Faith smiled. "I remember that day. And it wasn't five pints, it was more like seven."

"I'm a little fuzzy on the details, to be honest."

"No kidding. I'd never seen you that sick before."

"You held my hair back while I vomited, I remember that." She ran a blessedly cool hand over Faith's heated forehead. "How are you holding up?"

Faith made a miserable sound in the back of her throat, burying her face in her pillow.

"That good, huh?" Sylvanas kissed her cheek. "Would it help if I stayed with you?"

"I don't want you to see me like…" Her face went a chalky white, and she rolled to the side. Sylvanas supported her, but her stomach was empty. Only bile fell into the bucket that had been placed next to the bed.

Taking a handkerchief, she gently wiped Faith's mouth, "Shh, it's okay. And just so you remember, I've seen you in much worse conditions than this." She took Faith in her arms and settled down next to her, trying to keep her still as the ship kept making its way through the waters to reach Tirisfal Glades. Faith kept her eyes closed, waiting for everything to end.

The storm let up just as Tirisfal Bay came into view.

Pale and shaking, the living emerged into the deck, trying to breathe in the fresh air before they reached the Forsaken lands.

"We are not in the right place if we want clean air," muttered an orc.

Faith, supported by Sylvanas, waved her hand around once, murmuring a spell that surrounded them all with the gentle smell of a breezy spring day. A tauren who was closest to her closed his eyes in appreciation. "Oh," he said. "That smells like the plains of Mulgore. Thank you, Major."

"No problem," she whispered. "The smell of undeath isn't the best thing after the journey we've just had,"

"D'you want me to leave?" asked Sylvanas, her tone only half-mocking.

"If you do, I'll just come with you."

Sylvanas rolled her eyes, but securely kept an arm around Faith to make sure she stayed on her feet.

It was obvious as they drew nearer to Tirisfal Glades that the coast had been violently battered by the storm. Dozens of dead murlocs floated in the water, and uprooted trees littered the shore.

"The waves must have been high," remarked Sylvanas, frowning.

"Look at the docks," whispered Faith.

Several Forsaken were there, working as quickly as they could, but it was clear to everyone that the docks had been destroyed by the storm.

"Can you guide the ship in?" Sylvanas asked Faith.

"Sure."

An hour later, the  _Windrunner_  was docked, its passengers sitting on the firm ground and thanking whatever deity they believed in for the end of the voyage. Faith was still swaying, and kept her hold on Sylvanas.

"Will you listen to me next time I ask you to teleport yourself home?"

Faith could only nod. Her stomach still hadn't fully settled yet, and speaking didn't seem to be a good idea just then.

They reached Undercity a couple of hours later, finding that Rotvine was waiting for them, a look of worry on his face. He held a scroll in his hand, which he had evidently read more than once, for it was no longer tightly rolled, but flapped limply as he paced.

"What's the matter?" asked Sylvanas right away.

"Your Majesty," he said, bowing. He held out the scroll to her, "We've just received some news."

Faith felt a thrill of premonition coming over her, as though something bad were going to happen. As Sylvanas began to read the scroll, the city shook once, a loud rumbling echoing throughout the halls. Losing her balance, Faith dropped to one knee, glancing up at the queen to make sure she was all right.

"That's the second earthquake since yesterday," murmured Rotvine. "Things have been shaking throughout the region, apparently. I heard there was a bad one in Khaz Modan a few days ago."

Sylvanas held up the parchment, "Is that what this is about?"

Rotvine shook his head, "No… King Magni Bronzebeard is dead."

"Dead?" cried Faith, getting back to her feet.

Holding up a hand, Sylvanas read the letter quickly, "Apparently he was worried about the same elemental unrest Thrall told us about, and decided to look for a way to communicate with the earth to figure out what was happening."

"And that killed him?" Faith's eyes were wide and scared.

"What he did killed him. Does that say that he was turned into a diamond?"

Rotvine gave a slow nod, "Our sources state that he tried to become one with the earth. He must have performed some kind of ritual that went wrong."

"You're not kidding," said Sylvanas quietly. "Give me a minute to think about this." She went to her office, closing the door behind her and leaving Faith and Rotvine alone in the throne room.

"Have there been any other problems?" she asked him.

"Just some storms. And a couple of shaman in Silverpine Forest said that they had seen a few water elementals in Lordamere Lake."

Elementals weren't common in Lordaeron. Faith frowned, "I guess Thrall is on to something, then." She quickly explained to him that he had stepped down as warchief, and that he had handed the mantle to Garrosh.

He reacted the same way Faith thought he would, "We just got out of a war… I hope he's not going to drag us into another one," he said, shaking his head again.

"I think that we should enjoy this moment of peace while it lasts, because it won't for much longer."

Sylvanas came out of her office an hour later, having composed a reply to the letter she had received. She walked over to Faith, "Hey. You feel like taking a little trip?"

Faith blinked, "Not by boat."

A chuckle, "No. I suppose you can teleport there."

"Where am I going?"

"Ironforge. I'm sending you there as an ambassador to the Forsaken, so that you can pay your respects on our behalf. You're the perfect person for this job, what with the way you helped the Alliance throughout the Northrend campaign."

"I thought I was never supposed to leave your side again," said Faith, coming closer to her.

"You're  _not_  supposed to leave my side again. Unless I ask you to go somewhere for me."

"I'm going to miss you."

"You won't be gone long, just a couple of days at most."

That didn't change the fact that Faith was going to miss her, and Sylvanas knew it. She could tell her lover was feeling the same, but she was keeping that to herself. "When do you want me to go?"

"Today, if you're up to it."

Faith nodded. She dragged her bag to her room and began to unpack, at the same time preparing a new bag to take with her to Ironforge. Sylvanas walked into the room a short while later, coming to her.

"By the way, Faith, how's your hand?"

"My hand?" Faith looked momentarily confused.

"The one that Garrosh broke."

"How did you know that he –."

"I know how to make myself invisible." She took her hand, rubbing the pad of her thumb gently across the knuckles, "I would have showed myself, but he seemed intent on speaking to you alone."

"It was nothing."

"Nothing," she repeated. "You should have told me."

Faith kept quiet for a few moments, memorizing the feel of her hand within Sylvanas'. "He wanted to intimidate me."

"It's more likely that he wanted to intimidate  _me_ , and he went through you because he can't openly defy me. Nor can I openly defy him."

"You can't really defy him at all," whispered Faith.

Sylvanas' smile was a little too cold. She was livid, and Faith knew it. "I've had a new tabard made for you," she said in an obvious effort to calm herself down.

"New tabard?"

She held it up, a look of distaste on her features. It was the same tabard that the Undercity guards wore, except that it was snow-white, with the broken mask that made up the Forsaken crest outlined in black shading to make it visible.

"Ah, you know I don't wear white," said Faith quietly, taking it from her.

"You will for this."

"You don't do peace with the Alliance."

"Silvermoon will be sending an ambassador to Ironforge as well," said Sylvanas, ignoring Faith's remark. "And I think that Orgrimmar will as well, so you won't be alone."

Faith nodded, putting on inky black leggings and a matching tunic, along with fingerless gloves and leather boots. Sylvanas slipped the tabard over her head, making a show of smoothing it out.

"You look good in white," she murmured, her thumbs gently stroking her nipples through the material. "I miss you wearing colors."

Putting a hand on Sylvanas' face, Faith smiled, "Which colors would you like me to wear?"

Sylvanas looked at her, "Blue. I've always loved you in blue."

"Okay. I'll wear blue for you when I get back from Ironforge." Faith leaned over and pressed her lips to Sylvanas' cheek.

"You will?"

She nodded, "Yes."

For a moment, Sylvanas didn't know what to say. She just stared into Faith's eyes before resting their foreheads together. Faith could only stand there, feeling everything. The intimacy with her lover was stealing her breath away, and she felt the force of their combined love. She took a step towards her, tucking herself into her arms and closing her eyes.

Sylvanas held her. "Come back to me soon," she whispered.

"I will. I promise."

Releasing her, Sylvanas stepped back. She cleared her throat, trying to disguise the fact that she wanted to cry. She hated herself for feeling so weak around Faith. She was supposed to be the strong one in their relationship, but over the years, she had found herself leaning on her more and more. She didn't want Faith to go.

"Hey. I'll be back before you know it. And I won't be in any danger."

"Won't be in any danger, is that what you think? You're going into an Alliance capital."

"As an ambassador. I'm not going there to kill anybody."

Sylvanas didn't feel any better about needing to let her go, but she kept quiet. Squaring her shoulders, she watched, hoping she appeared disinterested, as Faith gathered her things. She didn't take her staff with her, or a spellblade, but instead carried a crystal-topped wand, which she strapped to her waist in full view of everyone. She finished getting ready by fastening a new floor-length black cloak around her shoulders.

"How do I look?" she asked.

"You always look perfect," whispered Sylvanas before she could stop herself.

Faith smiled again, putting a spell on her bag to make it smaller and easier to carry. "I'll see you in a few days," she said.

"You will." She kissed her, meaning for it to be soft, but Faith wrapped an arm around her and snaked her tongue inside her mouth for a deeper kiss. "I love you."

"I love you."

Together, they walked towards where some of the mages had already created a portal to the region of Dun Morogh. "We've warned them that you were coming, so you shouldn't be attacked on sight."

"Is that supposed to reassure me?" asked Faith playfully. "Good job, Sylvanas."

"Just go. And be safe."

Faith nodded and gave Rotvine a hug, "Look after her for me," she said to him.

"I'll be fine," said Sylvanas, leaning close to Faith, who jumped in surprise.

"Humor me."

"Consider yourself humored," said Rotvine.

Faith thanked him, squeezed Sylvanas' hand, and stepped through the portal. Sylvanas watched her go, feeling a familiar sense of loss, and a sudden urge to burst into tears. But she kept herself busy for the rest of the day, holding various meetings to tell her advisors about the newest developments and Garrosh's appointment as Warchief of the Horde.

Anybody watching her couldn't have guessed that she felt wretched inside without her better half.  Her soulmate.

For her part, Faith had landed in the middle of a snow storm that was strong enough to rival the ones of Northrend. She wasn't alone. The Silvermoon ambassador, Edinor Bloodthorn, was already there, wrapped in a thick fur cloak, and stood next to a tauren female whose eyes were squinted against the snow.

"Ah, there you are, Faith," said Edinor, needing to shout so that Faith could hear him over the howling wind. "We're just waiting for the orc ambassador, and we'll be able to go!"

She nodded, turning towards the tauren. Her eyes widened, and she smiled, "Ishaka!" she cried.

The grey female extended a hand, "I knew you would be here," she said. "I told Hamu that I had to come so that I could meet you."

Ignoring the hand, Faith hugged her, "Oh, I'm so happy you've agreed to be Hamu's life-mate. He was so excited when he told me about you!"

Ishaka, seeming a little taken aback, put one arm around Faith quickly before letting her go. As she did so, a portal materialized in front of them, and an orc appeared, a tall and burly male with dark green skin.

"I'm Katuk," he said in a growling voice. "There will not be anybody else joining us, so we can go now."

They started walking, spotting Ironforge nestled into the mountain a short way away. All of them were wearing white, but with the snow, it was difficult to know whether the dwarves would notice, and, indeed, whether they would shoot first and ask questions later, or do the opposite.

Half an hour later, they came across a group of dwarves who appeared to be fighting a couple of angry-looking elementals made of ice. Faith had come across some of them in Northrend, but they had almost seemed subdued by comparison.

One of the dwarves was lying in the snow, his arm bent at an odd angle.

"Move aside!" called Faith, beginning to cast a strong fire spell.

The dwarves that were still fighting scrambled out of the way as a tongue of flame hit the first elemental squarely in the chest. Its form began to melt rapidly, and once it was gone, Faith's companions converged on the second one, dispatching back to the elemental plane.

"Thank yeh!" said the dwarf on the floor. "Yeh're the ambassadors of the Horde?"

Faith nodded, "Yes, master dwarf," she said, walking to him as the other dwarves helped him to his feet. "How's your arm?"

"The priests'll be able to fix it."

"We'll escort yeh to the gates," said another dwarf. "Yeh're not safe here. That was the third group of elementals that have come through here today."

"Which is three more than we usually get. We have water elementals at Helm's Bed Lake, but nothing usually comes this close to our settlements."

"The elementals have been restless in Durotar as well," said Katuk. "Just the other day, earth elementals began to fight water elementals near Southfury River."

"Aye, so we've heard. Our king tried ter find out what was going on with them…" the dwarf's voice trailed off, and Faith put a hand on his shoulder. A particularly violent gust of wind prevented her from speaking, however, and they quickly went on their way, going up the road that led to the gates of Ironforge.

Never having been there before, Faith was struck by how massive they were, carved into the side of the mountain that way. She hadn't often given dwarves much thought, but the few times she  _had_  thought about them, she'd never imagined their society.

Now, entering the city, she looked around, noting the intricate carvings that had been beautifully rendered within the mountain itself. Hundreds of braziers lit the halls of stone, their merry glow reflected on the walls. Distantly, she heard the sounds of the giant forge that she knew made up the center of the city. Unlike her beloved Undercity, which was also underground, Ironforge was warm, despite the fact that many of the inhabitants were clearly in mourning. Black banners had been hung on the walls as a sign of respect to the fallen king.

"It's beautiful," she breathed.

The dwarves looked at her, "Thank yeh. It's not often that members of the Horde say things like that ter us."

Someone walked over to meet them, a dwarf with a familiar face.

"Haldren!" exclaimed Faith.

The paladin smiled, shaking her hand warmly, "It means a lot ter me ter see yeh here, Faith," he said.

Faith turned to the others who were with her, "Please meet Haldren Brighthammer, everyone. He was part of my team when we killed Arthas."

"Then we owe you our gratitude, paladin," said Ishaka, shaking his hand.

Katuk shook his hand as well, while Edinor merely nodded, looking like he had a toothache.

"Welcome ter Ironforge," he said. His smile faltered, "We haven' had an easy few days, I can tell yeh."

"We know, Haldren. I'm so sorry to hear about what happened to King Magni."

"Thanks, Faith." He cleared his throat, "I've bin assigned as yer bodyguard for the duration of yer stay in Ironforge."

"Our bodyguard," repeated Faith quietly. She suspected, correctly, that this had nothing to do with them needing to be kept safe, but rather with everyone wanting to keep an eye on them. She understood, though, as she knew that any Horde leader would do the same. "Sounds good, Haldren."

He led them through the cavernous halls, briefly explaining what had happened to the king. "I kin take yer to see him, if yeh'd like, after yeh've been settled."

"We are here to pay our respects," said Ishaka in a low voice.

Haldren nodded, turning a corner into what was obviously the Ironforge throne room. A figure dressed in fine blue and gold stood there, facing the wall, a book in his hand. His golden hair shone in the torchlight, but his eyes were sunken, his face pale.

"Prince Anduin," said Faith as she saw him.

He turned to look at her. He had obviously had a rough few days. Upon closer inspection, Faith noticed that his skin appeared grey. "Major Everstone," he whispered. He stepped forward, and Faith did the same, shaking his hand.

"I'm sorry for your loss, your Highness," she told him.

His eyes searched hers, and she could swear that she saw tears there. However, he kept them at bay, "Thank you." He opened his mouth, hesitating.

"It wasn't just King Magni," said Haldren quietly. "His instructor was killed in one of the earthquakes we had last week as she tried to rescue victims of a previous quake."

"A hero," said Katuk.

"What was her name?" asked Ishaka.

Prince Anduin's voice was shaky, "Aerin. I tried… I tried to save her…"

Faith nodded, putting a hand on the prince's shoulder and squeezing it briefly. "Sometimes there are people you cannot save," she said softly. "Believe me, I wish that wasn't the case."

"I know. It's just… unfair."

There was nothing else to be said about it. He was in pain, and had the circumstances been any different, Faith thought that she would have hugged him. He sure looked like he could use a hug, and she felt bad about the fact that he had to act brave just because he had a title attached to his name.

They were shown to their room, which, incidentally, was close to the throne room, in one of the more heavily guarded areas of Ironforge. Edinor grumbled at this, but nobody else was surprised. They were lucky to be accepted within the dwarven city at a time like this.

Of course, none of them had counted on a very unexpected visitor.

Moira Thaurissan, daughter of King Magni, arrived only an hour after they did. Had she simply been a princess of Ironforge, Faith didn't think that there would have been any problems with accepting her claim to the throne. However, she had married Dagran Thaurissan of the Dark Iron dwarves, which made things a little… complicated.

"I don't know much about dwarven politics," said Katuk quietly as they gathered together in a corner of the throne room, trying to make themselves invisible. "But this doesn't look good."

Faith agreed. Most of the dwarves, while not fond of the Horde at all, had been accommodating to them during the short amount of time they had been in Ironforge. Moira, however, had glared at them the moment she had seen them.

"And what, pray tell, is the Horde doing here in Ironforge?" she asked, her voice carrying unmistakable authority.

"We came here to pay our respects to King Magni, as ambassadors of the Horde," answered Faith diplomatically.

"Hm." Moira looked at her up and down. Despite the fact that she was several feet shorter than Faith, the way she was scrutinizing her almost made her feel small. "Are you sure you haven't come here with the express purpose of spying on us? Perhaps to see who was going to be king or queen now?"

She didn't wait for an answer, merely going up to the throne and taking a seat. A pair of burly Dark Iron dwarves flanked her, their red eyes and dark skin making them look more undead than living.

"Kill them," she said.


	5. Chapter 5

"Kill them!" repeated Moira when nobody moved.

"I really wouldn't advise that," said Faith in a carrying voice as everyone in the throne room called out in outrage.

"And why is that? Members of the Horde aren't welcome here."

"They are ambassadors!" said Prince Anduin. "You cannot kill ambassadors, and especially not someone like Major Everstone."

"Why, because she's Sylvanas Windrunner's whore? I don't care about that."

Faith forced herself to take a deep breath. Over the past few years, she'd heard herself called many things because of her relationship with Sylvanas, none of them pleasant. But although she was used to the comments, it didn't make them any easier to hear, and especially not coming from someone who had turned her back on her people to join the Dark Iron clan.

"She killed the Lich King!" cried Haldren. "The Alliance owes her!"

"From what I understand, she certainly did not kill him alone."

"Be that as it may, you cannot kill ambassadors of the Horde who have come here to pay their respects to your father." Anduin sounded older than what he was, and Faith gathered that the losses he had recently experienced had forced him to grow up a little quicker than he would have otherwise done.

"That's right. He  _was_  my father, which means that I am now ruler of Ironforge."

"And my father is High King of the Alliance. You can't kill them without risking war. He wouldn't allow them to be killed this way."

Faith thought it best not to mention the fact that Varian had tried to kill her not that long ago. She kept her eyes on Moira, who was evidently struggling to make a decision. She felt movement behind her, and heard Katuk hiss that more Dark Iron dwarves were arriving.

"Take them away," said Moira after a while.

None too gently, the dwarves in her service began to herd Faith and the others back to the rooms they had been assigned. Try as he might, Haldren was unable to speak in their favor.

"This is outrageous," said Edinor. "What do they think they're doing, treating us like this?"

Katuk chuckled darkly, "You haven't realized what's going on? I should have thought it was obvious."

When Edinor simply continued to look angry, Ishaka answered, "This is a coup."

"In a manner of speaking," said Faith. "She does have the claim to the Ironforge throne, being as she's King Magni's daughter. But I highly doubt that the people here are going to let the Dark Irons take over just like that."

"They are, though," said Edinor moodily.

Faith shook her head, "I don't think so. They've been taken by surprise, but I have a feeling that they're not going to sit idly by and let this happen."

"This isn't good for us, though," said Katuk. "We should get out of here."

"I can't teleport us out of here without risking an open war," Faith told him. "But I do agree that we shouldn't be staying in Ironforge much longer." She thought of what Sylvanas would do if she heard about their situation, and winced. If she were held prisoner in Ironforge, Sylvanas would empty Undercity to come and look for her.

She wasn't wrong.

Horde sources in Khaz Modan had already heard of what had happened in Ironforge. The execution order had somehow been relayed, and was spreading like wildfire throughout all of the Horde settlements.

" _Executed_?" cried Sylvanas, her scream bouncing over each wall of the throne room. "What do you mean  _executed_? They can't execute ambassadors! Even I wouldn't do that!"

Rotvine ran to her as she staggered, catching her arm to help her sit back down. "My Lady, from what we heard, the order was given, but not carried out. All communication in and out of the area has now ceased, but I don't think that they would be able to keep something like this quiet."

"Ready  _every single troop_  we have available. Now. We leave in the morning."

Ambassador Sunsorrow looked at her in alarm, "Isn't that premature, Lady Sylvanas? There's no evidence that Faith has perished."

But Rotvine had already gone to carry out the order. He felt wretched. If Faith had been executed… he couldn't even think about it. He hadn't been able to cry since he had died, but he felt like doing so now. Anger filled him. If Faith was in trouble, he would lead the troops to Ironforge himself, right behind Sylvanas.

"I promise you, Faith, we won't leave you there to die," he whispered.

Back in Ironforge, Prince Anduin had managed to sneak into the room where Faith and the other ambassadors were being held. Only a few hours had passed, and he looked, if possible, paler than before.

"Your Highness, you shouldn't be here," Faith told him, standing up.

"My room is right through this passage," he said, indicating a concealed door next to the wardrobe. "Are you all right?"

"Don't worry," said Katuk. "It takes more than the threat of execution to scare us."

"She's just put a ban on all travels. All gryphons in and out of Ironforge have been halted. Even the mages can't teleport anymore. She's arrested all of them and confined them to the Mystic Ward. We can't even send letters."

"Sit down, Prince Anduin," Faith told him. She conjured a goblet of crystal clear water, handing it to him, "It's going to be all right, you'll see."

"Do you really believe that?"

"I believe that when your father finds out what's going on, and I think he already knows, he's going to send his armies over here. And if I know Sylvanas, she's going to do the same."

"But that'll mean war!" he cried in alarm.

"Shh. The guards will hear," implored Ishaka. "Faith is right, your Highness. I don't think that we're going to be in this situation for long. The Alliance will not allow the Dark Iron clan to take over Ironforge, not without a fight."

"Is there anything you need? Food, maybe?"

Faith pointed to the basket of fruit on the nearby table, "We're okay for now, thank you. If bad comes to worse, I can conjure something for us to eat as well, don't worry. You should get back to your room before someone comes checking."

He nodded, "I'm not allowed to wander around at all."

"I reckon you're going to be all right," said Katuk to him. "You shouldn't worry. You have friends in here after all."

Prince Anduin left, apprehension etched onto his features. Faith closed the door behind him, whispering to him to come and knock if there was anything he needed.

"He looks scared," said Edinor with a smirk once Faith sat back down.

"He's just a teenager. It's a lot for him to go through, not to mention that he's in an awkward position here right now, being the son of the High King of the Alliance." Faith peeled an orange and began to eat it slowly, "He's a hostage right now, same as us, and I daresay that he's a valuable one. Moira will probably use him to barter for her right to be queen here."

Katuk shook his head, "I don't see that ending well. Should we get involved?"

"It's nothing to do with us," Edinor told him heatedly. "We should just let them fight it out."

"And when Moira decides to execute us, what will you be saying, Edinor?"

He looked at Ishaka, "She doesn't have the guts to have us executed."

Faith held up a hand, "Oh, she's got the guts to do it, all right. It would make a powerful statement to both the Alliance and the Horde. But I hope she weighs her options carefully before she has us killed. Prince Anduin was right when he mentioned that killing me would be a bad idea."

Edinor snorted, "Sylvanas can't do anything about this."

"I don't mean to sound self-absorbed, but Sylvanas loves me. She will kill everything in her path to get to me, and I would do the same for her." She cleared her throat, as Edinor was about to protest. "Don't ask me how I know. I just do. I can also tell you that Lor'themar will go to war if it comes to that, and that my tauren family will lose their minds if anything happens to me and to Ishaka, who's going to be my sister-in-law soon."

"Aren't we lucky," muttered Edinor. "We have high-standing members of the Horde here to protect us."

"Oh, stop behaving like a petulant child," snapped Katuk.

"Do you really think that your tauren family would come for me?" asked Ishaka in a low voice. She was studying a pattern on the stone floor as she spoke.

Faith nodded, "Yes, I do. My brother would never let anything happen to you."

It was a tense evening. They stayed in their room, with only one visitor, Haldren who brought them some dinner. He spoke quietly while they ate, telling them that hundreds of dark iron dwarves had arrived in Ironforge, and more had gathered in Kharanos and in the settlements of Loch Modan.

"It's almost like she planned the whole thing," he said morosely. "Every gryphon has been chained, and they're already getting restless. We're effectively cut off from everyone now."

"It really is a coup," said Katuk, cursing softly under his breath. "She must have decided all of this the moment she heard that her father had died."

"Must have, yes," agreed Faith. She handed her empty plate to Haldren, "The best thing for us to do right now is to keep our heads down."

"Yeh can't help us," said Haldren, nodding. "And this isn't yer fight."

"It'll become our fight if she decides to have us killed. And I'm telling you right now that I won't go down without a fight. So if it comes to that, instruct everyone you care about to get away, because heads are going to roll."

He chuckled, "I've seen yeh in action, I know yeh're not kidding."

A few moments later, he was gone, leaving the four of them alone. They spoke together for a while, but there wasn't much they could say about the situation, so in the end, they went to bed.

Faith stayed awake for most of the night, listening to the sounds just outside their door, her fingers curled around her wand, which miraculously, nobody had taken away from her. She managed to fall asleep when the little clock on the table indicated that it was four o'clock in the morning, only to wake up two hours later when Haldren brought them their breakfast.

For two days, they heard only tidbits of news. They were able to leave their rooms for short periods to wash and attend to personal matters, but this was done under constant supervision. The dwarf assigned to guard Faith didn't mind watching her as she did everything.

"Are you sure you can't teleport out of here?" Katuk asked her at the end of the second day. They had just heard of fights breaking out all over Ironforge because of the new restrictions the Dark Iron clan had imposed on everybody.

"I'm sure," she replied, straightening her tabard. She had tried to teleport the previous evening, not entirely sure whether she would be able to accomplish the task. But nothing whatsoever had happened, except for the fact that the energy had drained out of her body.

"We need to warn someone about this."

"Horde spies already know," she whispered.

"What Horde spies?" asked Ishaka, her brown eyes wide.

"We all have spies in every part of Azeroth. The Alliance has a couple of spies near the Bulwark, and I know they have them in Eversong Woods as well, not to mention in the Ghostlands. We have spies on Azuremyst Isle, or we did, unless they've all been killed now, and I know Sylvanas has one or two spies in this area, because it's the closest Alliance capital to us."

"I'd never thought of that," said Edinor. "So we're going to be okay?"

"I don't know. We can't afford another war, not this soon after coming back from Northrend."

"I never went to Northrend," said Edinor. "I was tasked with keeping my area of Eversong Woods safe. I didn't have that much to do, really."

"Lucky you," said Katuk. "I was in Grizzly Hills most of the time, fighting the worgen that had been turned."

"Worgen?" asked Edinor. "I can't imagine them giving you much trouble."

"No trouble at all," answered Katuk sarcastically. "Just think of them as enormous rabid wolves caked in mud with maggots coming out of every festering cut on their bodies."

Faith made a disgusted sound in the back of her throat, thinking of Fangore, "Please don't speak of that," she told him, explaining what had happened to her. "I already don't like the wolves because they turned us away when we needed their help. Thinking about them with the Scourge is sickening, even now."

There was a knock on the door connecting their room to Prince Anduin's. Faith quickly went to it, opening it. The prince stood there, a gleam in his eyes. "I found something that can help us!" he said in an excited whisper. He stepped into the room, at the same time pulling out an oval object from his pocket. It was a white stone, on which had been etched a faintly glowing blue rune.

"Wow," whispered Faith, her eyes wide. "Where did you get a hearthstone?" She had heard of such devices before, objects bewitched to teleport their owners to a specific location, but she had never seen one before.

"Aunt Jaina gave it to me before I came here! This will take you directly to Theramore!" He handed the stone to Faith, but she shook her head, "No, I can't take that. If I show up in Theramore, I'll be in even more trouble than I am here. You go to Theramore, your Highness, and tell Jaina what's going on."

Prince Anduin nodded, "What do I tell her?"

"That there's been some kind of a coup and that Moira Bronzebeard is trying to take over Ironforge with the Dark Iron dwarves. Tell her that all communications have been stopped and travel in and out of Ironforge has been forbidden. She'll know what to do."

She watched him leave, wondering whether he would really be able to make it to Theramore. What if the hearthstone didn't work? Then again, if Jaina herself had enchanted it, there was no doubt that Prince Anduin would be able to get out of the dwarven capital.

He came back less than half an hour later, looking agitated, but triumphant.

"I made it," he gasped. "She's going to send word to Stormwind, so we're going to be okay." He handed her what appeared to be cheese sandwiches that Jaina had most probably given him.

Faith smiled, taking some of the sandwiches and passing them around to the others. She wasn't sure whether she would describe their situation as 'okay', although she had to admit that she had been in worse fixes before.

"Isn't there something we should be doing?" asked Edinor.

"Like what?"

Edinor glared at her, "Something. We shouldn't just be sitting here like prisoners of war."

"This is nothing," said Katuk. "I was held by the Burning Legion's fel orcs in Outland. That was a horrible time. I was in a spiked cage, and every time I so much as exhaled, the spikes would painfully graze my body. Here, at least, we have a warm bed and food."

"But you shouldn't be held like this," said Prince Anduin quietly.

"No, I don't suppose we should. We've come as ambassadors, not as warriors. But it's all right. We haven't been mistreated."

"Yet," muttered Edinor.

"I can promise you that if any Alliance prisoners were held in Undercity, they wouldn't be treated like this."

"What do you mean, Major?" asked Anduin quickly.

"Oh, no Alliance prisoner would be held in a comfortable room with a bed and three meals a day. You'd be held in the prison below the catacombs where it's cold, with spells forcing you to relive painful memories. Sylvanas doesn't even keep straw down there," she looked at Edinor evenly, "So, consider yourself lucky. This could be a lot worse."

The blood elf didn't say anything else, instead going to his bed and lying down, turning his back on them.

"How long will it take the Stormwind forces to get here?" asked Ishaka quietly.

"It depends on which way they use to get here," answered Anduin. "If they manage to use an airship of sorts, not long. But if they send an army, it could be weeks."

Weeks. Faith didn't fancy staying locked in Ironforge much longer. She had been thinking about an escape plan, but had abandoned the idea almost immediately. She didn't know this city at all, so trying to navigate a maze of underground passages was out of the question. There was also the fact that they would have had to kill a lot of Moira's forces to even try to get out, which would surely trigger their own deaths.

It was on the third day of Prince Anduin's return from Theramore that they began to feel like something was different.

As soon as Faith woke up, she heard shouts and the clash of steel on steel. Evidently, something was happening, and judging by the sounds reaching them, it was a battle.

The prince of Stormwind came running into their room, only half-dressed. "Are you hearing this? It sounds like they're fighting out there."

"I have a feeling that your father's here with reinforcements," Faith told him with a nod.

"How could they have gotten here this fast?" asked Katuk.

"They must have used the Deeprun Tram. It goes from Stormwind to Ironforge, but I would have thought that Moira had forces stationed there."

"And you would be right, son," said a voice from the doorway. "Except that they didn't expect us, so we were able to subdue them quickly."

Katuk gave a shout of surprise at seeing the High King of the Alliance suddenly within their midst. Faith stood up, automatically defensive, and put a hand on her wand without actually drawing it. Ishaka got up as well, looking at Faith with wide eyes. Only Edinor remained on his bed, looking at King Varian with an insolent gaze.

"I'm glad to see Prince Anduin's message reached you, your Majesty," Faith told Varian, inclining her head once. "I trust that you're not alone."

"Oh, no, we're not alone. As far as I understand it, more than half of Undercity's forces are amassed at the Gates of Ironforge, while I have my military here, along with Wildhammer and Bronzebeard forces."

"Undercity's forces?" cried Faith in alarm.

"You did tell us that Sylvanas would do something crazy if she found out about this," Ishaka told her.

"Something crazy… yes, I think that this definitely qualifies as crazy." She and the others walked out of their room to see dozens of Stormwind soldiers in the halls, and Moira standing there, her hands bound before her.

"Yeh thought that yeh could come here and take over Ironforge with yer Dark Iron lads?" was screaming a voice that caused Faith to turn her head quickly. It was Muradin Bronzebeard, looking resplendent in his polished armor, but angry. He seemed taller than his niece, who didn't look nearly as imposing as she had when she'd fancied herself queen of the dwarves.

"It is my birthright," she said quietly.

"Yeh betrayed yer father! And as such, yeh no longer have any birthright here!" He saw Faith, and his face brightened a little, "Ah, Faith Everstone, the Kingslayer," he said, giving a small bow to her. "I believe that the Banshee Queen is waiting fer yeh just outside. Thank yeh for comin'."

"It would have been a great pleasure under any other circumstances," replied Faith, bowing back. "This city is a credit to most of your race."

"Maybe one day yeh'll be able to visit it properly."

Faith smiled, knowing that it would never happen in her lifetime. "I would really enjoy that, Master Dwarf."

"You won't hold any grudges against Ironforge," said Varian suddenly. It wasn't a question, merely a statement.

"I would never hold a grudge over an entire people based on just what one person did," Faith told him. "Princess Moira was in the wrong, but I certainly won't hold everyone in Ironforge responsible for what she did. Besides, we were treated fairly enough. We leave in peace, and with a renewal of our condolences for the loss of King Magni."

"Thank yeh, Faith," said Muradin. "Yer role as ambassador was wisely chosen."

After gathering their belongings, they were escorted to the Gates of Ironforge by two dozen guards, along with Varian and Anduin, who were walking next to Faith.

"Well, there's something you don't see every day," she whispered as she stepped outside.

The hill leading up to the dwarven capital was covered in Forsaken and skeletal horses, along with a fair amount of Sin'dorei, who were riding hawkstriders of every possible color. Both Sylvanas and Lor'themar were at the front, on their respective mounts, each with their hands on their weapons.

Sylvanas' eyes remained on Faith for a while. "You're all right then," she said indifferently, as though trying to conceal how desperately worried she had been.

"We were never in any danger, my Lady," Faith told her. She turned to Prince Anduin, "Your Highness, I wish you and I could have met in another time and place." She extended her hand, and he shook it.

"Thank you, Major."

Faith smiled a little before briefly turning her eyes towards Varian, "You're doing a fine job with him, your Majesty."

Varian looked at her, his eyes betraying a slight surprise. He merely nodded, watching as she vaulted onto Venom, sitting in front of Sylvanas, who put an arm around her waist. Her hand found Faith's, squeezing once, twice.

"Haldren," she said, looking down at the paladin, "you look after yourself, my friend."

"I will, Faith. Yeh too."

Edinor, Katuk, and Ishaka each took one of the additional mounts that had been brought for them, and climbed onto their backs. They were about to leave when a portal coalesced in front of them, bright white for a minute, and big enough to admit several people.

A couple of dwarves stepped through it, looking startled to see so many Horde forces so close to their home. They quickly walked towards where Anduin and his father were standing.

"They're coming from Durotar," said Faith, squinting to get a better look at the portal and seeing a familiar desert landscape within it.

"Durotar?" exclaimed Katuk.

"I told you that we all have spies all over Azeroth," she replied quietly.

The dwarves were talking to Varian quickly, too excited to use Common.

"What are they saying?" asked Ishaka.

It was Sylvanas who answered, for Faith's jaw had dropped open in shock, "They're saying that Cairne Bloodhoof has challenged Garrosh Hellscream to a  _Mak'gora_."


	6. Chapter 6

"A mak'gora?" cried Faith. She leapt off of Venom and moved towards the dwarves. "Are you certain that's what you heard?"

One of the dwarves looked at her, startled. He nodded, "Yes. That's what we heard."

"Faith," said Sylvanas. "Calm down. A mak'gora hasn't been lethal in years."

Faith barely heard her, "Did you hear the reason for this challenge?"

"A group of druids in Ashenvale was slaughtered," said Varian. "Night elves and tauren, from what we understand. Hamuul Runetotem was among them."

"Hamuul Runetotem is dead?" asked Sylvanas sharply, as Faith  gasped in shock.

Varian shrugged, "Don't know. We just heard that he was among them."

Faith turned her head towards Sylvanas, an imploring look on her face.

She shook her head, "No way."

"Sylvanas!"

"Let's  _go_ , Faith.  Home."

Faith was sorely tempted to disobey her, and Sylvanas must have known that, because she narrowed her eyes at her and made to get off of her horse. But Faith took a few steps forward and merely hoisted herself back into the saddle. Her hands were shaking.

"Let's go," said Sylvanas.

They started riding fast, cold wind whipping their faces. Faith was immediately chilled to the bone, a fact not helped by Sylvanas gripping her as tightly as she was.

"We  _have_  to go to Orgrimmar!" she cried after a while.

"Of course we're going to Orgrimmar," said Sylvanas. "I just didn't need Varian to know this."

"Can you teleport all of us there?" wondered Lor'themar.

"Not this many of us, no. I can make a portal, but it won't be enough for everyone. My portals only last for about two minutes, less in hostile territory."

They stopped for a minute, "All right, why don't we do this, Faith, you make a portal so that you and Sylvanas can go to Orgrimmar, with as many forces as can go with you. I'll take everyone else back to Lordaeron."

Sylvanas looked at him, "You don't want to be there?"

"Someone needs to take these troops back home.

"I can do that," said a familiar voice. It was Rotvine, and as he nudged his skeletal horse forward, he lowered the hood that had covered his face.

"What in the world are  _you_  doing here?" cried Sylvanas, her red eyes flashing. "I told you to stay in Undercity!"

"My Lady, please don't think that you're the only one who cares for Faith. I wasn't about to let her die without doing something about it."

The magnitude of what Sylvanas had done to come and look for her hit Faith hard at that moment. Unbidden tears came to her eyes, and she pressed herself against the banshee queen. "Thank you," she whispered. "Thank you for coming for us." She put her hand on Sylvanas' leg to keep her calm, "Please don't be angry at him for coming with you."

"I'm not angry at him for coming along. I'm angry because he disobeyed me. Who's looking after Undercity?"

"Master Apothecary Lydon. And Nathanos Blightcaller."

"You'd better hurry back, then. Who knows what they're doing to our home."

Rotvine moved his horse forward until he was level with them, "I'm happy you're safe, Faith."

Leaning over, Faith hugged him, "Thank you, Carrick. You have no idea how much this means to me."

"Yeah, yeah, keep your hugs for your queen," he said, clearing his throat and hugging her back briefly. "And hurry up with that portal, you're frozen."

"Who's coming with us to Durotar?" asked Sylvanas, pulling Faith back to her.

Predictably, everyone raised their hands.

Sylvanas groaned, "All right, we'll make this easy. Half of you –  _half of you_  – will come with us. The rest go back home with Rotvine. I can't speak for the Sin'dorei, so you can work that out amongst yourselves." She helped Faith get down, and Rotvine climbed down as well to help her with the portal. A couple of minutes later, they had created the swirling vortex that would lead them to the desert plains of Durotar.

"You first, my Lady," said Faith stepping aside.

Sylvanas went through, and Lor'themar followed her. Squeezing Rotvine's hand again, Faith went next, with Ishaka and Katuk.

The change in temperature was a shock to the system, and Faith was practically knocked sideways by the scorching heat of Durotar. She and Rotvine had created the portal at the gates of Orgrimmar, and she saw right away that things had already changed in the short time Garrosh had become warchief.

"I'm not used to seeing this much steel around here," commented Sylvanas, reaching down to Faith and pulling her back onto Venom.

"It is a little unnerving," said Faith. She turned a little to face Sylvanas, "Hey. I haven't greeted you properly yet."

"You think now's the time for that?"

Faith kissed her, "No. But I have a feeling that we won't be having much time for that later on."

"I have a feeling you're right." She looked around them, seeing that quite a few Forsaken had joined them along with two dozen Sin'dorei, "Is that half?"

"The portal's closed so it doesn't matter," whispered Faith, placing a kiss to Sylvanas' cheek.

Kicking Venom into a canter, Sylvanas brought them inside of Orgrimmar. Everyone stared, wide-eyed, as they passed. Evidently not having expected such a host to arrive.

Garrosh was walking by, and he looked up when he saw Sylvanas and Lor'themar. The scowl on his face deepened.

"I wasn't aware that we were expecting a horde of Forsaken and blood elves here today," he said with obvious distaste. "Are you expecting a war, Sylvanas?"

"Oh, I took forces to Ironforge to get our ambassadors out of a sticky situation. We heard of the duel that Cairne had issued you, so we decided to come and see what was going on."

"Always thirsty for blood and death, I see," he told her.

"Blood and death? Are you having a real mak'gora then?" she wondered, sounding completely disinterested.

"That was my condition, and he accepted it."

Sylvanas got off her horse, and Faith did the same slowly, "Did you get any word from Hamuul Runetotem?" Faith asked him quietly.

He glanced at her, "He's alive, if that's what you're asking. He claims that orcs attacked them. Apparently, the night elves' skins were hung between trees to send a message."

"I beg your pardon?" cried Faith, horrified. Sylvanas stepped closer to her in warning.

"So you think I did this too. Perhaps I should fight you once I'm done with Cairne."

"There will be no need for that," said Sylvanas quickly. She glared at Faith, "Hold your tongue."

"I didn't order an attack against a druid gathering, and even if I had, I wouldn't have to justify myself to anybody."

"You would if you had also killed tauren members of the Cenarion Circle."

A slap resounded, and Faith's head snapped backwards as Sylvanas' hand connected with her cheek. Outraged, she nearly retaliated, but the look on Sylvanas' face stopped her. Not a word did they say to each other, and finally, her eyes watering, Faith merely turned on her heel and walked towards where the tauren were assembled.

Sylvanas joined her a few minutes later, grabbing her arm so hard she winced.

"What are you trying to do?" she hissed, yanking her aside. "Do you  _want_  to give him another reason to hate you?"

"Look, I –."

"No. You don't get to defend yourself on this one. You are on very dangerous ground here. You're a Sin'dorei, which already counts against you, and you've got a strong affiliation with the Forsaken, which is something else he hates. And finally, Faith, you're with me. You're with me, and he hates that."

"He would hate me anyway."

"Yes, but you don't want to make it easier for him. And do you really think he killed the druids at the gathering, assuming that's what happened?"

"He's certainly capable of killing elves."

"Of course he is, but I don't think even he would skin them and expose them that way."

Faith looked down, "I guess he wouldn't kill tauren druids either."

Sylvanas released her, still looking angry, "Idiot. You know better than to speak to him like that."

"He's going to try to kill Cairne."

"That's none of your concern."

"Of course it's my concern! It's my chieftain!"

"Lower your voice," she said. "You can't help the fact that they're going to fight to the death. Don't you protest. When the inevitable happens, and I think it'll happen because Garrosh is stronger than Cairne, physically, you will not say a word. You will sit there and watch, and you're going to be quiet throughout the whole thing."

"No."

"Yes." Sylvanas looked at her squarely, "You will keep your mouth shut. I'll be there with you."

"Is that supposed to help me?"

The ghost of a smile momentarily lightened Sylvanas' features, "Yes. You can lean on me, you know. Just don't openly defy Garrosh again." She put her hand on Faith's cheek before stepping away from her.

"How am I supposed to just stand there and watch this without doing anything?" asked Faith in a trembling voice.

"It's an honor duel. Garrosh says that he didn't order the attack, and Cairne is convinced of the opposite. You cannot interfere in any way, and you know it. Neither of them would want any help during this combat."

"I know all of this." She looked at the banshee queen, unable to stop herself remembering the last time Sylvanas had been unwilling to engage in dishonorable combat. Had she set her morals aside that day, maybe…

"Ah, stop thinking about that. It won't help you to remember that time."

"Sometimes, honorable combat isn't what's best."

"Oh, I know that. But that doesn't mean that I'm going to let you interfere with this fight."

"I won't."

"Promise me, Faith."

Faith nodded, "I promise."

Sylvanas kept her close until it was time for the mak'gora. The two of them sat down in the second row of the Orgrimmar arena, Faith using her robes to hide the fact that she was clutching Sylvanas' hand as tightly as she could. She was trembling, and a cold sweat trickled down her back in her fear.

She hadn't had much interaction with Cairne Bloodhoof since she had joined her tauren family. But their paths had crossed over the past few years on several occasions. Before the fight, she had gone to him, wanting to hug him, but unable to. She had settled for shaking his hand and whispering a few words to him. He had smiled at her and nodded.

"It's a good thing I don't need blood to course through my veins," remarked Sylvanas idly, looking down at their hands. "I'd be uncomfortable with this otherwise."

"Too tight?" asked Faith with a shiver.

"If I were to grip your hand that hard, I might break it."

Faith immediately loosened her grip, "Sorry."

Ishaka came to sit next to her. She looked as worried as Faith felt. "Did you notice that the Grimtotem are here?" she whispered.

"The… what?" Momentarily distracted, Faith let go of Sylvanas' hand completely and looked at the people around her, noticing dark-furred tauren peppering the crowd. "What are they doing here?"

"It's difficult to say. But from what I've heard, Elder Crone Magatha will be anointing Garrosh's blade for the combat."

Sylvanas' hand gripped Faith's knee before Faith had even summoned the strength to get to her feet.

"Don't move, Faith," she said in a low voice.

"But, Sylvanas –."

"You are not to get involved."

"Sylvanas, Magatha has been wanting to take Cairne's place for years as the High Chieftain of the tauren!"

"She won't do anything here. It's too open. It's Garrosh you have to worry about, not her."

The crowd silenced as the sun began to set and the time for the mak'gora approached. Faith quietly renewed the spells on Sylvanas and the Forsaken assembled behind them so that their smell wouldn't be unbearable, but it didn't really matter. The mass of races gathered, from orcs to tauren to trolls, Forsaken, and Sin'dorei, created a unique scent that was only present in Orgrimmar, where the Horde converged as a whole.

The two combatants stepped forward, both wearing only loincloths, as the mak'gora indicated. They carried their weapons, with Garrosh holding Gorehowl, his father's axe, and Cairne holding the Bloodhoof Runespear, a beautifully crafted spear that had been handed down through generations of tauren.

Magatha was walking a step behind Garrosh, her dark eyes trailed on Cairne, who was accompanied by his own shaman.

Slowly, the two of them anointed the weapons presented to them, using three drops of oil, as was custom.

"I have a bad feeling about this," whispered Faith.

Sylvanas took her hand again, "Stay with me." She pressed her leg against hers and watched Faith as her eyes darted around to the lit braziers that gave additional light in the arena. "They both look strong," she told her lover.

Indeed, they looked in peak physical condition, although Cairne's fur was a little grey with age. Muscle was visible beneath it, and Sylvanas was positive that he was still as strong as he had ever been. But Garrosh, being younger, had an advantage in her eyes. The two of them glistened in the light, having been anointed with oils as well, just as their weapons were being prepared.

"Old bull!" called Garrosh. "I was under the impression that you had come here to fight, not to stare at a runespear all night!"

Faith started, squeezing Sylvanas' hand harder.

"I suppose," replied Cairne in a carrying voice, "that you don't know how to pray to your ancestors before a battle."

"I do not need to pray before a fight. I can win this with my eyes closed!"

 _He's confident_ , thought Faith, pressing her leg against Sylvanas' and wishing she could curl up on her lap. Sylvanas returned the pressure gently. She could sense how scared Faith was, but she couldn't comfort her now. She could show no favoritism, although personally, she liked Cairne better than Garrosh.

The two warriors faced each other, taking several steps towards the center of the arena.

"You will pay for questioning my honor, tauren," snarled Garrosh. "You will never be warchief of the Horde."

"And you will never be a good leader," said Cairne. "You don't want to learn." He sounded sad. "I wish it did not have to come to this."

"Wishes have no place in the arena! Stand and fight, bull!"

Cairne did. Garrosh rushed him, Gorehowl raised as his oiled muscles rippled in the orange light cast by the braziers. Sylvanas heard Faith's gasp, but Cairne knew what he was doing, easily sidestepping his younger opponent and plunging his runespear into his arm as he was propelled past him.

"First blood," said Faith quietly, her eyes wide and scared.

"So it begins," Sylvanas told her.

The crowd started to cheer. Tentatively at first, then with more vigor as the battle began in earnest. Cairne was faster than they had anticipated, and he was strong indeed. He also had unmatched experience that served him well. He moved as skillfully as a viper, striking with precision, although Garrosh parried most of his moves. His arm, already wounded, took a second blow from the runespear.

The warchief was getting tired. Cairne was letting him wear himself out, which was a good strategy. Sweat poured from the orc, while Cairne appeared to have just stepped into the arena, still relatively fresh.

"I think that your chieftain might actually surprise us," said Sylvanas quietly, rubbing the pad of her thumb across Faith's hand.

"He has already made his ancestors proud," whispered Faith, leaning into her a little.

Sylvanas nearly put an arm around her. She wanted to, just to reassure her that everything was going to be all right even if Cairne did die. Keeping her eyes on the fight, she squeezed Faith's hand a little tighter.

In the arena, Garrosh gave a cry, tired of Cairne avoiding his every move. He swung Gorehowl suddenly, very quickly, and Cairne was only able to bring up the runespear in order to stop the axe from splitting him in half.

The runespear was shattered by the blow, leaving Cairne only holding onto the lower half of it. The axe continued its strike, hitting the tauren chieftain in the chest, leaving a shallow cut there.

"It's nothing," Sylvanas told Faith, noticing her growing pale. "See? The runespear blocked the worst of the attack."

But a few minutes later, it was apparent that something  _had_  happened. Cairne was running a hand over his eyes, shaking. Faith nearly got to her feet, but Sylvanas kept her down by sheer force, causing several people to look their way.

"Something's wrong," she told the banshee queen urgently. "Look at him."

Sylvanas frowned. She focused on the old tauren, her eyes widening when he merely looked at Garrosh, who ran forward and swung Gorehowl again, this time catching Cairne between the neck and shoulder, severing the artery there.

Faith shrieked, and this time, Sylvanas wasn't able to keep her seated as she vaulted over the first row and began climbing over the wooden gate that separated the spectators from the fighting area.

She wasn't alone. The shaman who had blessed Cairne's weapon came forward as well, reaching Cairne's body at the same time Faith did. Together, they turned him.

He was clearly dead, the old tauren who had given such peace and prosperity to his people, and who had allowed a family to take in a lonely Sin'dorei girl who had been shocked by grief.

Sobbing, Faith put a hand over the wound on his chest.

"Poison…" she said, feeling the area burning.

"What did you say?" asked the shaman.

"Poison! This wound is poisoned!" Eyes streaming, she turned to face Garrosh, getting to her feet, "Treachery!" she cried. She pointed a finger at Garrosh, "Coward! You had your bade anointed with poison!"

Garrosh stared at her. By the look of utter incredulity on his face, Faith realized right away that he hadn't been behind that.

"You didn't do it, did you?"

He shook his head.

"Magatha Grimtotem!" called Faith. Magic began to swirl around her, and she would have unleashed it had the elder crone been anywhere in sight. "Where is she?"

"She was there just a moment ago," said the shaman, who was still holding on to Cairne's body.

Faith stormed over to Garrosh and looked at him straight in the eye, "May I examine your axe?" she was shaking, her vision blurry with tears of grief. She could barely think, but knew that she needed to make sure.

Garrosh presented his weapon to her, but didn't let it go. People were beginning to pour into the arena, some of them with congratulatory smiles on their faces, while others looked perplexed. Sylvanas found her way to Faith, and grabbed her hand before she touched the axe's blade.

"It's a blend of Nerubian poison," she said. "Don't touch it, Faith."

"The poison would have slowed him," murmured Faith.

"And blurred his vision. You've had that happen to you enough times to know of the effects. It wouldn't have killed him, not immediately."

Faith looked back at the fallen high chieftain of the tauren, her throat tightening. "Magatha did this," she whispered. "I  _told_  you she would."

Garrosh took a step forward. He looked angry, "By poisoning my blade, she robbed me of a clean victory today." He turned to the assembled guards, "Bring her to me!" he screamed.

Shaking her head, Faith bent down to pick up part of the broken runespear. She looked at it, deciphering the runes that were still legible, "She won't be here now. She's probably gone on to Thunder Bluff."

"Whatever for?" asked Sylvanas.

"I told you earlier, Sylvanas." Faith's sounded like she was in pain. "She wants to take over as chieftain of the tauren. So she's probably on her way to Thunder Bluff by now. We need to warn Baine. We… we need to tell him that his father…"

She couldn't finish her sentence. Her tears returned, spilling over her cheeks as she looked up at the moon, which had seen fit to take Cairne's soul back to his ancestors.


	7. Chapter 7

The night was dark. Thanks to a spell, Magatha had covered the moon and the stars so that it would be impossible for anybody but the Grimtotem to see clearly. She was almost in Mulgore, having ridden like the wind to get there. Her operatives had already struck in the Stonetalon Mountains and in Feralas.

She would win this fight.

Back in Orgrimmar, the tauren were in an uproar, and it was all Garrosh could do to hold everyone back while he tried to figure out what in the world had happened.

He glared at Faith, who glared right back, "You interrupted the Mak'gora."

"Cairne was already dead," she said to him.

"You broke the rules of engagement."

"Are you really going to debate this while you let that hag run loose? She's the one who betrayed you and the rules of the Mak'gora!"

Garrosh's eyes bore into hers, and had she not been used to Sylvanas' stare, she would have probably looked away. But she held her ground, aware that there would be repercussions for her interference in the fight.

"Where is she?" he asked. Only an hour had passed since Cairne had died, and his people had already taken his body to be anointed and shipped back to Mulgore for the proper burial rituals.

"We haven't seen her, Warchief," said one of the orcs. "Not since the end of the fight."

"Search the city," he ordered. "And bring her to me."

The nearby grunts saluted and immediately began a search. Faith looked at Sylvanas, who was still nearby. The Banshee Queen stepped forward.

"You don't think she's still here."

"No. I think she's a long way from here."

"And where would she go?"

"Ask any tauren here. All of them will tell you that Magatha Grimtotem's ambition has always been to rule over the people of Mulgore."

"So you think she's gone back to Thunder Bluff. To do what? Take over?"

Faith shrugged, worry etched over her features, "Who's going to stop her?"

"Isn't Baine Bloodhoof next in line to rule the tauren?" asked Sylvanas.

"Of course he is. But she's just broken the rules of the most honorable combat known to the Horde in order to see Cairne die. What do you think is going to stop her from murdering Baine as well?"

"You have a point," said Garrosh quietly, making Faith jump. She hadn't heard him approaching.

"Do you want to do something about it?" asked Faith.

He looked at her, "We should let them battle it out. But I don't want Magatha to become the leader of the tauren without her answering for her crimes here tonight."

"She will murder everyone who was ever loyal to…" Faith's voice trailed off, her face suddenly growing so pale that Sylvanas grabbed her arm to keep her focused. "She's going to kill my family." She looked to Sylvanas with wide eyes, "I  _must_  go to Thunder Bluff!"

"Teleport there, and you can be sure that whatever Grimtotem have been planted there will kill you on sight," said Sylvanas. "You can't."

"But I can't let my family die! Not again."

"Think!" ordered Sylvanas. "You can't go there on your own."

Faith forced herself to take a deep breath, "I'll take the tauren that are here. We'll leave for Thunder Bluff now."

Sylvanas nodded, "Fine. And how will you get there? It'll take you days to go there on foot, and not many wyverns will last long with tauren on their backs. How would Magatha travel, do you know?"

Garrosh shrugged, "If she needs to act fast, she'll use the wind to travel faster. Assuming she's already left."

It became obvious several minutes later that Magatha  _had_  left. Not many people had seen her, but those who had remembered seeing her sneaking away from the arena just after Faith had entered it.

"So she has a head start on us," said Faith.

"She could already be there now, depending on her traveling speed. Tauren shaman can travel very fast using the winds."

Faith looked at Sylvanas first, then at Garrosh, "What do you want me to do?"

"Go to Mulgore and warn Baine. You clearly want to, and I won't stop you. Bring Magatha back here, if you survive." He gave a little smile, as though seriously doubting the fact that Faith would make it. Turning on his heel, he left her there with Sylvanas, whose face was impassive. But a muscle was quivering in her cheek, testifying to the fact that she was ready to explode.

Faith took her hand and led her to a secluded corner, "Let's have it, Sylvanas."

"What are you talking about?"

"You're angry."

"Of course I'm angry. When has that ever stopped you?"

"Are you coming with me?"

"With you? Where, to Mulgore?"

Faith gave a nod.

"No. You can do this one on your own. You shouldn't have interfered during the combat."

"Cairne was already dead."

"You didn't know that! You're fully aware that you need to wait for confirmation before you can even think about entering a Mak'gora arena! What you did, and what you said to Garrosh, is going to have some serious consequences for you."

"And for you," whispered Faith.

"For once, you didn't think about me when you acted."

Faith hung her head, tears pooling behind her eyelids. "How did this happen?"

Sylvanas tipped Faith's chin up until their eyes met, "Magatha outmaneuvered us, plain and simple. I didn't see it coming, even though you did. Garrosh should have, but I don't think he was looking that far ahead when he accepted the challenge."

"What are we going to do?"

" _We_  aren't going to do anything.  _You_  are going to go to Mulgore and take care of things."

"You're really not coming with me. Are you that angry with me?"

"No. But you need to do this on your own." Sylvanas leaned forward and kissed her forehead gently, "Create a portal to Mulgore."

"Where in Mulgore?"

"Sweetheart, you know the tauren plains better than I do. You'll figure it out. Now, go. Don't waste any time." Kissing her again, she gave Faith a gentle push, watching as she gathered the tauren around her and made her way towards where the orc mages were.

Less than ten minutes later, she created a portal, and she stepped through it with all of the tauren willing to go with her.

"They all went?" asked Lor'themar, gently rubbing at his eyepatch.

"Yes. Whatever you might say about the tauren, they're certainly brave."

"And what about Faith?"

Sylvanas hid a smile, "She's brave too, if a bit too reckless. I thought she'd learned by now."

"Ah, Sylvanas, Faith is a passionate person. It's your fault, you know. She loves you so much that she doesn't know anything else, and her emotions are consequently very strong. She's either violently happy or in the depths of despair."

"And that's my fault how?"

"You've never taught her to control her feelings for you."

A snort, "Because I can control what she feels, certainly. She's impulsive. I've tried to keep that in check, and most times, I manage. Today, I didn't. I just hope it doesn't get her killed."

"It definitely won't make things easier for her in the future. Not with the orcs."

Sylvanas knew it. She looked up at the sky, wondering where exactly Faith and the others had landed.

Miles away, in Mulgore, Faith's eyes were trailed on that same sky. The stars were veiled, surely a trick of Magatha's. The moon was also invisible, so they had to rely on their senses more than anything to get to Bloodhoof Village.

They were lucky. From their spot, they could see a small bonfire which provided a reference point in the dark. But in the distance, Faith could swear that she saw flashes of light coming from what she knew to be Thunder Bluff.

"We need to hurry," she said. "Watch out for cougars and carrion birds."

"What about nearby Grimtotems?" asked Ishaka.

"Kill them," answered Faith grimly.

They moved quickly through the plains, not encountering anything on their side of the plains, for Faith had wisely portaled them to the south of Bloodhoof Village.

The village was asleep. A few braves kept guard, and snapped to attention when Faith and the tauren came, their spears trained towards them.

"Hold, Brave Cloudmane," said Faith calmly. "We must speak to Baine Bloodhoof immediately. It's a matter of high importance."

"He's in his tent," said the brave, pointing towards a tent that was a little larger than others. "But he's probably asleep now, Major Everstone."

"Listen to me. The Grimtotem are on their way here, probably to assassinate him," she hesitated. "High Chieftain Cairne Bloodhoof is dead."

The brave hissed in a sharp breath, "Dead?"

"Baine must be told."

Cloudmane led them to the tent, but just as they were about to enter, Baine stepped out of it, looking very grave indeed. He was followed by a tauren with dark fur dotted with lighter spots.

Faith immediately cast a spell to freeze the member of the Grimtotem tribe where he stood.

"Hold, please," said Baine, raising his hand. He sounded exhausted, and not altogether well.

"Did he poison you?" she asked him.

"No. He merely told me that my father was dead and that the Grimtotem are taking over Mulgore."

Relaxing her stance, Faith released the spell on the other tauren. "I'm so sorry. I…" she shook her head, not knowing what to say to him.

"Thank you, Major. I suppose you came here to tell me the same thing?"

A slow nod. Extracting the bit of runespear from her pocket, she handed it to him, "He fought bravely. I'm convinced he would have won had this not happened."

Baine took the broken bit of spear and looked at it. A shadow seemed to pass over his face as he closed his eyes for a moment.

The ground began to tremble.

"What's that?" asked one of the tauren who had come with them.

"Kodo stampede!" cried someone else.

The Grimtotem shaman looked around, "That's the signal. Chieftain, we must go, now."

"We need to send word to the other villages," said Baine distractedly. "The people there need to be told what happened."

"I will go," said someone immediately. Another ten braves took up that same statement.

"And where will you go, Chieftain?" Faith asked him.

"Camp Taurajo in the Barrens. Jevan says it hasn't been hit yet."

Faith nodded, "I'll come with you." She raised her wand, pointing it toward the shaman, "If you try anything, I will end you."

He nodded, "I won't. I just betrayed my tribe to warn Baine about what happened."

Five minutes later they were swiftly running back the way they came. The dust from the kodo stampede reached them even there, making it difficult for them to breathe, even with the spells Faith and the shaman performed to help them along.

They were silent throughout the trip to the Barrens. Faith was in good shape, but she definitely wasn't used to running like this, unlike the tauren who covered great distances on foot. She managed to keep up, though, barely, staying in the back to ensure that nobody followed them.

When they crossed over into the Barrens, they noticed that everything seemed normal. They heard the noise of nocturnal predators nearby, and a soft breeze blowing through the sparse grass.

"Do you smell that?" asked Faith, clutching a stitch in her side and limping towards the front of the column.

"What?" Baine looked back at her. "I don't smell anything out of the ordinary."

"Stay on your guard," she said, gripping her wand. "I'll take point."

She began to walk quietly, staying off the road. Baine was behind her, flanked by two braves while everyone else followed.

"What do you smell, Faith?" asked Baine again in a low voice.

"Death," she whispered.

"You… you can smell death?"

"It's a perk of living in Undercity."

"But… even if everyone in the camp had been slaughtered… you shouldn't be smelling them," said Ishaka.

They walked another quarter mile before Baine stopped, taking a deep breath, "Ah… yes, I know what you mean."

"You can smell them too, Chieftain?"

"I'm not smelling dead tauren," said Baine. "But there is the stench of death and decay in the air."

"What is it?"

"Sylvanas," said Faith.

They were in sight of the camp now. It looked quiet, but Faith could make out a Forsaken banner among the tents. The smell of the undead was stronger now, and as they walked into the camp, Sylvanas turned around.

"There you are," she said. "You're okay?"

Faith nodded, not quite knowing what to think about Sylvanas being there. Her mind kept saying her name over and over again, trying to comprehend what it was her eyes were seeing.

"Let's get Baine inside. We're safe for now, I have Forsaken patrolling the area, so they'll warn us if any Grimtotem try to come by here."

She led them towards the largest tent in the camp where, to their surprise, Hamuul Runetotem was resting. He got to his feet when he saw Baine.

"Ah, Baine. I'm so sorry about your father. Sylvanas just finished telling me what happened. It's a tragedy for all of us." He put his hand on Baine's shoulder, "I greatly admired your father. I considered him a friend."

"Thank you, Archdruid," said Baine. "My father always spoke very highly of you. I… I hope I won't disappoint him."

"You could never disappoint him," said Sylvanas, putting an arm around Faith. "He wouldn't have gone through with a fatal Mak'gora if he hadn't known that you were ready to succeed him."

"Thank you, Lady Sylvanas. I must say that I'm surprised to see you here, although I'm happy that you've come."

"Your father was a good leader," she told him. "He was the one who petitioned for our entry into the Horde when Thrall needed a little convincing. I'm here to honor that."

Faith cleared her throat a little, looking up at her innocently.

"All right, so I'm also here to make sure Faith doesn't get killed. Since we were in the neighborhood, I thought it was an opportune moment to lend the support of the Forsaken, although I don't have a lot of troops with me."

"Any assistance is appreciated, your Majesty," said Baine.

Sylvanas nodded, looking at Faith, "You need to sleep."

"I'm fine," she said. Her eyes found Sylvanas' crimson ones, "Thank you for coming. Did Garrosh send you?"

"No, I came on my own. Lor'themar sent people to some of the tauren settlements close to Orgrimmar, but…"

"They've already been attacked," said a quiet voice. "Magatha left only a few villages and camps untouched."

Sylvanas turned her gaze upon the Grimtotem who had spoken, "A prisoner?"

"An ally, apparently," Faith told her. "He warned Baine just before we got there."

"Had he wanted to kill me, he could have done it swiftly. I was asleep when he came into my tent."

"How can you be so sure that he's not trying to set you up?"

"I don't. But I'll give him the benefit of the doubt."

The smile on Sylvanas' face was sinister enough that several tauren looked away from her. "I suppose you're lucky then, Grimtotem," she said. "Had I been in Baine's place, I would have killed you immediately." She glanced at Faith, "Then again, she would've done it for me."

The tauren looked at Faith first, then at Sylvanas, "I… I didn't have the intention of killing him. Not when I broke away from my group."

"Of course you didn't," said the queen. "But let me tell you this right now. If Faith's tauren family is harmed, you will be the next one to die."

"Sylvanas, you don't need to –." Faith stopped talking when she saw the look on her lover's face. Abashed, she trailed her eyes on the floor until she felt Sylvanas' cold arm come around her waist.

"Come on. You need to sleep."

Knowing better than to argue, Faith allowed herself to be led towards one of the beds that stood against the back wall of the tent. Sylvanas undressed her slowly, using a wet sponge to wash her before she tucked her in, kissing her cheek. "Sleep, my darling," she said. "I'll stand watch tonight, you'll be safe."

Faith nodded, "I love you," she murmured.

"I know." With a small smile, Sylvanas left. The lights dimmed, and several others went to sleep too. Faith, however, stayed awake for a long while, thinking over that day's events. She heard Baine talking quietly to Sylvanas and Hamuul, and could swear that she heard his voice trembling on more than one occasion.

She almost got to her feet, but Sylvanas, probably knowing she wasn't sleeping, turned around and looked right at her. A few seconds later, she sat on her bed.

"What's wrong?" she asked softly.

"It's been a long day, that's all," said Faith, taking Sylvanas' hand in hers. "I woke up this morning in Ironforge, and now I'm here, Cairne is dead, my tauren family could be dead for all I know and…" her voice trailed off. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be moaning."

Sylvanas nodded, "Today hasn't been the best day for any of us. Although this morning, I was afraid you'd been executed, so I'm rather happy to have you here with me."

"What are we going to do?"

A kiss, "You already know what to do. Get some sleep, and we'll talk it over in the morning." Sylvanas stayed with her, watching her until her eyes closed and her breathing deepened. Only once she was sure Faith was asleep did she get back to her feet.

Baine was looking into the fire burning outside the tent. "She still relies on you, doesn't she?" he asked Sylvanas.

"No. She likes to have me around, and she feels stronger when she's with me, but she's perfectly capable of functioning on her own. I don't actually make her any stronger than she already is."

"Love is a powerful force," said Baine quietly. He ran a hand over his eyes, blinking quickly.

Sylvanas agreed, "Of course it is. Loving someone, whether it's a lover or a parent gives additional meaning to one's life. The lack of love is just as powerful at shaping someone's character, though."

"Are you saying that Magatha lacked love?"

"I knew nothing about Magatha until today. I couldn't tell you whether or not she has someone to love. However, I did know your father a little, and he loved you. He loved this land and its people. He challenged Garrosh because he thought it was for the best."

Baine gave a nod, "I heard your girl got involved in the fight."

"Not until it was over. She'll have to face the consequences of that eventually." Sylvanas took a seat on the ground, crossing her legs, "She's very fervent in her loyalties. When she cares about someone, she'll stop at nothing to help them, even if it means giving her own life."

"You died for her, did you not?"

Sylvanas nodded, "I did, and maybe that's why she's like this. She leaps into situations without thinking when someone she cares about is in danger. In that regard, she's almost like a child, because she truly believes that she can help that person."

"She's generous," said Baine. "I've heard that said about her."

"That she is," smiled Sylvanas. "Maybe too much so."

"You mean because of the way she helped the Alliance in Northrend. My father admired that about her." Baine looked back towards where Faith was sleeping, "He figured that she had a good idea when it came to eradicating the Scourge."

"It wasn't just about the Scourge. She's always promoted peace."

"Even with the worgen?"

"No." Sylvanas closed her eyes briefly, "She holds a grudge against them because they turned her and the other elves away after Quel'Thalas was sacked. From what I've been able to gather from Lor'themar, it wasn't that bad. But Faith fixated on them because of what happened to me."

"She hates them because you died?" wondered Baine.

"Not exactly. She fixated on that one thing they did because it was easier at the time than facing what had happened. Yes, the worgen turned our people away in their hour of need, but they cowered behind their walls for the duration of the Third War."

"But wasn't that because of the worgen curse? They didn't want to pass it along, did they?"

Sylvanas shrugged, "I can't tell you exactly why they closed their doors to everyone. It might have been because of the curse, or because they wanted nothing to do with anybody. I  _can_  tell you that Faith doesn't like them, and that if I were to decide to invade Gilneas, she'd support me."

"Because she loves you."

"Yes. Faith loves me. Her love is the one constant I have in my undead life."

Baine gave Sylvanas a painful smile, "Now that my father is gone, I suppose I will need to find myself a life-mate. I hope that I can find someone who completes me the way Faith completes you." He sighed, "Maybe someday."


	8. Chapter 8

The ground was trembling. It started slowly at first, but after a few seconds, the earth itself seemed to scream, beginning to shake vigorously. Faith woke up and fell out of bed just as the section of the tent she was in collapsed. Someone cried out, and Faith barely had the time to cast a shield around herself as one of the wooden poles that held up the structure crashed onto her bed.

Moments later, the earthquake ended. Faith extricated herself from the tent, hearing shouts coming from all over the place.

"Faith? Answer me!" cried Sylvanas from outside. She rushed into what remained of the canvas building, which had been nearly leveled. "Where are you?"

"Right here," said Faith in a low voice. "There were gentler ways to wake me up, you know."

Sylvanas grabbed her hand and pulled her towards her, "I hate being afraid for you."

"You think I'm not afraid for you? I am. All the time. You get into more trouble than me."

A snort, "No I don't."

Faith kissed her gently, "How bad was the quake?"

"I don't know, I came to look for you. But it seems to have been a moderate one." She led Faith outside, where they saw that several of the tents around the camp had fallen. The only wooden structure in the camp, the armory, was still standing, but they saw a few people who had been injured.

"Are you hurt?"

Faith shook her head, "I'm fine. Is it me or are they becoming more frequent?"

"The earthquakes? It's not just you."

"Elementals!" called one of the shaman. "They don't look happy!"

Both Faith and Sylvanas turned their heads towards the person who had shouted, following his line of sight beyond the fallen wall that had encircled the camp.

Nine or ten earth elementals were ambling towards them. They looked like two boulders held together by magic, with a smaller rock for a head, and others making up its arms. Tethered to the physical world by bracers, they looked very unhappy indeed.

"Thrall said that whatever was affecting Azeroth itself was affecting the elements as well," said Sylvanas.

"They're going to bust this place wide open if we don't do something about it." She looked around, "Ishaka!"

The female tauren came to her, "Yes, Faith?"

"You're a shaman, aren't you?"

She nodded. "But I can't… I don't know how to deal with them."

"Can you try? I don't want to have to destroy them if I don't have to."

"You've destroyed elementals before?"

"In Outland, yes, sometimes. And a few ice elementals in Northrend. It's not easy, especially when they're corrupted, but sometimes, I guess it has to be done."

"What should I do?"

"Try to communicate with them. Convince them to go back to the hills and the mountains, away from settlements, so that they don't hurt anybody, and most importantly, so that they don't hurt themselves. It's imperative that they think we don't want them to be hurt."

"You really think that they can understand that?" asked Sylvanas skeptically.

"My tauren father thinks so. And so does Thrall. I've seen him talk to a fire elemental before. And we all know that the four elemental lords are sentient beings."

Ishaka looked terrified, but she gave a nod, "Should I go meet them?"

"Yes. See if you can find more shaman to help you out."

Faith watched as her future sister-in-law found a couple of additional tauren to give her a hand with the elementals. It took some time, but after a while, they were able to convince the rumbling creatures of earth to go elsewhere.

"They'll probably be back," she commented to Sylvanas.

Sylvanas nodded, "I don't doubt that they will be. And they might bring some friends too. But we can only worry about one thing at a time. The Grimtotem could come this way at any time. We need to secure the area."

"We need to assess the damage to the camp too."

"You do that, and I'll set up some patrols to make sure we don't get any bad surprises."

They separated. Faith found Baine kneeling near a brave who had been injured in the earthquake. The injury wasn't mortal, but the young tauren was clearly in pain.

"You should splint his leg until the shaman can get to it," said Faith. She found two lengths of wood and ripped some cloth off one of the fallen tents. Working as carefully as she could, she immobilized the tauren's broken leg while Baine helped him drink some water. "You're going to be just fine, you'll see," she said to the two of them.

"You really believe that?" asked Baine.

"Of course I do. You've been through a lot, too much, really. But you're ready to lead your people. You're already doing it."

"What if I make mistakes?"

"Sylvanas used to say to me that the only people who don't make mistakes are the people who don't try to do anything. Mistakes will happen, but that's why you have friends to help you."

Baine looked back towards where Sylvanas was talking to the Forsaken who were with her, "So you're saying that Sylvanas is my friend?"

"She certainly isn't your enemy."

"But she's here because of you."

Faith nodded, trying not to smile, "Yes she is. And I'm here because I owe the tauren a lot, and I've come to see you all as my people. My family's living in Thunder Bluff, and I have no idea what's happening with them." A familiar dread came over her. She had been through this before, and hated having to go through it again. Was her tauren family still alive?

"I'm sure they're all right," Baine told her quickly. He put a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it, "I'm happy that you're here. Thank you, Faith."

Faith blinked back tears as she looked towards where she knew Thunder Bluff to be located. How were they doing there? How many people had Magatha killed?

The ground began to rumble again. Baine instinctively grabbed her in order to shield her, but the aftershock was a mild one.

"This really doesn't bode well for us," said Baine. "I wonder who else is having these problems."

"The earthquakes and elementals? We've had issues in Undercity as well with some quakes and water elementals rising out of Lordamere Lake. There was a tidal wave not long ago that devastated the Tirisfal Glades coastline. And I know that Orgrimmar's been dealing with fire elementals as well."

"So it's everywhere."

"Looks like it."

He got to his feet, "I have to find a way to get Thunder Bluff back. But there won't be a way to get up there, because Magatha has surely disabled the elevators."

"A spell could do it, but it would take a while, and her shaman would surely be able to knock us down while we attempted to get up there."

"How about a zeppelin?" asked Sylvanas, coming up behind them. "Do you think that would work?"

"They would see them."

"We can put mages on there to cloak them," said Faith. "It might work."

"I don't know that a mage would be able to cloak an entire ship," said Sylvanas. "Even you. But we could use something else."

Baine looked at them. After a while, he nodded, "I suppose we could send someone to Ratchet. It might be the safest area, since I'm pretty sure all of the roads leading to the other tauren settlements will be blocked."

"Who could you send?" wondered Faith.

"The Grimtotem," answered Sylvanas. "He would be the perfect one to get through those blocks. And Faith could teleport to Undercity to warn the others."

"What about the Kor'kron guards?" Baine sounded worried. "I thought they were all over Undercity. What if they're in on this?"

"You can avoid them. Teleport straight to the Royal Quarter, and you shouldn't encounter any of them. Go. Now, Faith."

Faith didn't even take the time to kiss Sylvanas before she focused on the spell that would take her home. Moments later, gasping in the suddenly fetid air, she arrived in Undercity.

"Major!" cried one of the royal guards stationed there.

"Shh! Keep your voice down!" she hissed. "I don't want any Orgrimmar guards to hear us. Have you seen Rotvine anywhere?"

"Right behind you, Faith."

Whirling around, Faith saw him standing a few feet away from her. He looked grim, and she guessed that he had heard what had happened to Cairne.

"Is it true?" he asked her. "He's really dead?"

She nodded, quickly explaining what was happening.

"You think that Garrosh was in on it? I doubt it, Faith. He's many things, but I don't think he'd conspire with the Grimtotem to overthrow the Bloodhoofs."

"It is unlikely," she admitted. "But you never know. Just in case, keep this quiet."

"What do you need from us?"

"More people, mostly mages. I can make you a portal to the camp so that you can send whatever's left of the Magi Corps over."

"What about Lor'themar? Does he know?"

"He knows. He's apparently been checking other tauren settlements to warn the people there, but from what we've heard, they've already fallen under Grimtotem control."

Faith quickly went to her room, grabbing a spellblade and selecting staff from the ones on the wall. By the time she had gotten back to the throne room, several members of the Magi Corps had arrived.

"I'll come too," said Rotvine.

"No," Faith told him. "You can't. Sylvanas appointed you leader of Undercity in her absence, and you need to stay here in case something happens."

"What do you think is going to happen?"

"I don't know, Carrick," she said. "But you need to stay here. Make sure that the Kor'kron don't try anything."

"They wouldn't… would they?"

"Honestly, right now, I'm not even sure who to trust. So be careful, okay?"

"Of course. You be safe. Tell Sylvanas that she has nothing to worry about on this front. I'll send more of the corps over later on."

Faith nodded and began to work on the portal. Several of the other mages helped, so that a few moments later, they were all able to return to Camp Taurajo.

Sylvanas was waiting for them, nearly bursting into laughter when she saw just how many members of the Magi Corps Faith had brought with her, "What did you do, empty the city again?"

"We just asked for volunteers, and they all decided to come along." She looked at the fifty members of the corps who had stepped through the portal with her, smiling, "You can't fault them for being loyal."

She shook her head, a small smile on her face, "I blame you for this."

"Me? They're loyal to you, I have nothing to do with this."

"I'm not the one who asked them for help, you did that, and they responded to you." She walked to her and pressed her lips to Faith's ear, making her shiver, "Thank you."

"I'm the one who should thank you," whispered Faith, placing her hand on Sylvanas' hip.

"When we get home…" Sylvanas kissed her briefly.

The promise of love hung in the air while Faith helped everyone settle into the camp, assigning posts to each person who had come with her. Baine, to Faith's astonishment, had just returned from Theramore, where he had spoken to Jaina Proudmoore about what had happened. He carried with him a hammer that she recognized as being of dwarven construction.

"Did Jaina give you that?" she asked him, surprised.

"Prince Anduin did. He was in Theramore visiting Jaina."

"That was very kind of him," she said, feeling a little stung because he was asking for help from the Alliance instead of the rest of the Horde.

"Be reasonable," Sylvanas told her later as they watched him give Jevan Grimtotem some Theramore gold that would be difficult for anybody to trace.

"I  _am_  being reasonable."

"No, you're feeling offended. You and I are here, but he needs more help than what we can provide. Besides, that way, he's using Alliance money, and we can use ours for something else."

"Have you been at the mushrooms again?" Faith asked her, gazing at her with a shocked look on her face.

Sylvanas burst into laughter, shaking her head, "You know that there isn't anybody else to help him right now."

Jevan left, promising that he would be back soon.

Over the next few days, all of them rebuilt the camp, securing the tents against the elements.

"They're a lot more active than usual," said Ishaka, having talked down yet another earth elemental who had been determined to lay waste to them all. "I have no idea what's going on with them."

"Never mind that. At least we can keep the wounded safe," Faith told her, looking back towards the first aid tent. Two dozen tauren had come to the camp from other settlements, having been evacuated after the Grimtotem had attacked. They were hurt, and while everyone was doing their best to heal them, it wasn't an easy task.

"I just don't see why they don't want us to portal them to Silvermoon. They could be healed faster there," muttered one of the mages standing next to Faith.

"Look at it this way. If you were injured, and you had a choice between being with Sylvanas in case she needed you, or away from her to get healed, which would you choose? They want to be with Baine, not leave him alone in a situation like this."

Jevan returned from Ratchet the following day. He brought people with him who looked like thugs, scarred and dressed in dark clothing.

"Mercenaries," said Sylvanas. "Now we're getting somewhere."

"The head engineer in Ratchet has provided you with bombs and zeppelins. We should be able to use all of that to attack Thunder Bluff and take it away from Magatha."

The plan was put together quickly. Faith and Sylvanas were to board one zeppelin with the Forsaken and the Magi Corps, attacking Thunder Bluff from the North, taking the Spirit Rise first. The other zeppelins would attack the other rises, all of them under the cover of a storm.

"We might die," said Sylvanas to Faith as they got ready to go. They had travelled to Ratchet and were on one of the zeppelins, which would be leaving as soon as Jevan had managed to start the storm that would be cloaking them.

"We might die every day," replied Faith, looking at her. "What's wrong?"

Sylvanas said nothing, merely walking towards the edge of the zeppelin and looking out at the water. She didn't want to tell Faith that she was tired of them always risking their lives.

But Faith knew. She knew of the quiet life Sylvanas wished the two of them could lead together. Silently, she joined her, wrapping both her arms around her and resting her forehead against the back of her shoulder. After a couple of seconds, Sylvanas tapped Faith's leg, indicating that she should let go.

"We have work to do," she murmured.

"I know." She turned Sylvanas around and locked eyes with her for the briefest of moments, allowing her heart to race beneath her ribs. Releasing her, she stepped away.

The wind began to pick up, sending sea spray in their direction just as the zeppelin started to move. Dark clouds covered the sun, and a gentle rain fell around them.

"I can't make it rain too hard, or everyone will know that the storm is unnatural," said Jevan. He was sitting on the bridge, wrapped in a waterproof cloak that would shield him from most of the weather.

"It only rains about twice a year in the Barrens," Sylvanas told him. "Chances are people will realize that this storm isn't a natural one. Or they might think that the elements are at work again." She glanced up at the sky, "It sure looks natural, though."

"If Thrall were here, we'd really see a storm," said Faith. "Then again, if Thrall were here, we wouldn't have to do this."

"You might as well get indoors, Faith," said Sylvanas. "This is going to last a while, and the last thing I want is for you to get sick."

Faith nodded and did as she asked, going below deck and sitting down next to Ishaka, who was staring out of a small window.

"I wonder what's happening in Thunder Bluff," she whispered. "Both our families were close to Cairne. Do you think they're doing all right?"

"There's no way to know for sure. But I know my family, they'll do everything they can to keep your parents safe."

"What if they can't? I have this awful feeling that something horrible is happening, and that we're going to get there too late."

"It's going to be okay," said Faith, her voice gentle. "We're going to do this, and install Baine as the proper chieftain of the tauren. Then you and Hamu will be bound for life."

The ghost of a smile flitted across Ishaka's features, "I never thought he would pick me."

"Why do you say that?"

"Oh, I've always been socially awkward. I'm… I'm older than he is, you know. My parents thought that I would be one of those people who never managed to find a mate."

"Love happens when you least expect it."

Ishaka looked at her, "Did you expect it to?"

"I was twelve years old when I realized that I cared about Sylvanas. I don't really remember a time I didn't love her. Love has always been a part of my life, but it's true that I never thought it would lead me here."

"Many people at home don't understand how you can be with her."

"Because she's dead?"

Ishaka nodded.

"Sylvanas is my soulmate. My world fell apart when she died, and I guess that it's been fractured ever since, even when I found her again. It was a shock to the system to see her living corpse, and there are times when I feel that I won't survive another day with her like that."

"Why do it, then?"

Faith looked towards the stairs, "Because she's my life."

"Even though she's changed?"

A nod, "Especially because she's changed. She denies it most of the time, but she needs me as much as I need her. She hates it when I'm away from her, almost as much as I do."

"I just don't know how you do it. I mean, I haven't been with your brother long, and being away from him like this, especially now that he's in danger, is driving me a little crazy."

Faith smiled, "You'll see him soon. And let me tell you, the reunion will almost make being away from him worth it."

"You think so?"

"Oh yes."

The journey to Mulgore didn't last as long as it usually would have done, because Jevan was using the winds to move them along much faster. Just a few hours after leaving Ratchet, they moved across the mountains that led to the tauren's home.

Faith moved to the bridge, casting a spell on herself to keep the worst of the storm away from her. Sylvanas, soaked to the skin, didn't appear to mind the weather at all, and put an arm around her.

"Are you ready?"

"Of course I am."

"We have no idea what we're going to find there."

Looking at the queen, Faith nodded, feeling a familiar sense of dread coming over her, "I know. I hope they're still alive."

"I'm with you."

"Let's hope  _you_  stay alive."


	9. Chapter 9

Lightning streaked the sky as thunder roared through the plains of Mulgore. Nobody in the city of Thunder Bluff noticed anything about the storm, save for the fact that it was a little stronger than what they were used to.

The dead in the city weren't speaking. As for the living, they were quietly huddled in their homes, hoping that the storm would bring them some help.

Nobody saw the zeppelins until it was too late.

"Get ready to land," said Sylvanas, who had her bow in her hand. Faith, right next to her, was tense, her staff in her hand. The crystals embedded along the wood of the staff glowed with arcane energy as she focused on the magic she was about to perform.

The zeppelin came to a stop. Faith and Sylvanas leapt off of it nimbly, followed by every Forsaken who had come with them. A Grimtotem guard stood nearby, recognizable by his black pelt, and Faith began chanting slowly, her staff weaving back and forth in a gentle motion. A moment later, the guard's head dropped onto his chest and his knees collapsed from under him. Faith and Ishaka quickly caught him before he crashed to the ground, guiding him into a sitting position.

"He'll sleep for a while," said Faith. It wasn't her favorite method of neutralizing an opponent, for it was too easy to wake someone up for retaliation. But Baine had asked that the Grimtotem be spared as much as possible.

They moved on, entering the first tent they found.

Three tauren, one male, and two females, were huddled inside, looking frightened. But upon seeing Faith and Sylvanas, they brightened.

"Lady Sylvanas," said one of them softly. "Are you here to help us?"

"Of course we are," said Sylvanas. "We don't have a lot of time before the Grimtotem realize we're here. How many of them are there?"

"Over three hundred scattered throughout the city. They took us by surprise… there were executions…"

Faith forced herself to breathe normally, even though her entire being wanted to panic. "Be calm, my friend," she said. "We're going to take care of this. How many Grimtotem are on the Spirit Rise?"

"Enough to keep us in order, Major. We do not want to be killed."

"Can you fight?" asked Sylvanas.

The male tauren seemed to blanch in the dim light of Faith's staff. "No. I am a healer, not a warrior. We all are."

"Healers are good. Come with us. I'm sure we'll find some injured people who will need your help." She put a hand on the tauren's, and helped him to his feet. The male, who seemed older than the others, looked surprised by her gesture.

"Do not be frightened," said Faith in a soothing voice. "Baine Bloodhoof leads us, and he will not fail you."

"Baine is alive?" asked one of the females. "We were told he was dead."

"No. We got him out before the Grimtotem could carry out the assassination."

That bit of news had an invigorating effect on the three healers. Suddenly, they didn't seem frightened anymore, but determined. "We are with you," they said as one.

Exiting the tent, they found that the storm had intensified. Thunder rolled, echoing all over the city, which was illuminated by various streaks of lightning. It was an impressive sight that Faith didn't take much time to take in as they moved from tent to tent, neutralizing more Grimtotems and telling the citizens to fight.

A group of Forsaken went to the Pools of Vision and came back with another twenty undead who had been confined there, heavily guarded ever since Magatha had taken over Thunder Bluff.

"We had to kill the guards," they explained. "I know we weren't supposed to, but we had no choice."

"Don't worry about it," said Sylvanas. Her eyes widened suddenly, and she shoved Faith aside as a huge spear hurtled towards her. The younger Sin'dorei stumbled to the ground, snapping her head back just in time to see the spear embed itself into Sylvanas' left shoulder.

"Sylvanas!" she cried, hearing horns beginning to sound around them. She sent a spell towards the incoming Grimtotem warrior, hitting him squarely in the chest. He fell over, clearly dead, and she got to her feet, running to Sylvanas, who was now on her knees. "No, no, no… tell me you're okay!"

" _Anar'alah Belore_ , Faith, I'm fine."

"Your arm…"

"It appears to be injured, but it's definitely not fatal. The spear would have killed you."

"I don't care about myself, I care about you!"

Sylvanas closed her eyes, gritting her teeth, "I don't have time to hold you now, Faith. Get a move on.  _Now._  And someone  _please_  pull this thing out of me."

"We might rip off your arm doing it," said one of the healers. "It looks like it struck the bone."

"You don't say." She looked at Faith, "You're still here?"

Looking tortured, Faith got to her feet, "Half of you, come with me," she ordered. "The rest of you, stay here and help her." She took one last look at Sylvanas and turned on her heel, going towards the bridge that would take them to the Central Rise. Right next to her was Ishaka, who kept looking around.

"I didn't see my parents at home," she said. "Your house is empty too."

"We'll find them," Faith told her. Her heart was beating wildly in her chest. Sylvanas was hurt, and she was leaving her behind again. Her family could be dead. Again.

This was too familiar to her, and all she wanted to do was curl up under a rock, and not come out until it was all over.

"Look!" cried a mage.

Two Grimtotem warriors stood in front of them, on the rise, axes in their hands to cut the ropes that held the bridge aloft.

"Oh no you don't," hissed Faith. She cast two spells in very quick succession, causing the axes to be turned into nothing more than harmless branches. "Run, now, before they actually manage to cut this thing."

They did, racing towards the Grimtotem, who dropped their branches and attempted to flee. Faith leapt on one of them, wrestling her to the ground. With a knock to the head, the tauren lay still, unconscious, but alive.

"Need help with the other one?"

"No, we've got him," said Ishaka. She and the others were binding his hands and feet.

"Major," said someone from the shadows.

Faith turned around, a defensive spell ready on her lips, but it was a friend of Atalo's, a shaman named Jaho Windtalker. She relaxed, "Jaho, I'm glad to see you."

"Likewise. Your family will be happy to know you're safe."

"Are they all right?"

He nodded, "They're in the prison, but they're safe for now. I saw the High Chieftain going towards them with a group of braves. You can't stay here. There are many Grimtotem headed this way."

A prison? Thunder Bluff didn't have a prison in the city. It must have been a new invention of Magatha's. "I'm not afraid of the Grimtotem," she told him.

She got ready, seeing dark shapes coming towards them. A flame sparked to life, illuminating the black tauren leaping in their direction. At her command, spells began to rain down upon them. Some of them were blocked, while others hit their mark.

"Try not to kill them!" called Faith. "If you can!"

But it was obvious after a few minutes that the Grimtotem were fighting to the death. Soon, Faith found herself in hand-to-hand combat with one of them, a large male who was trying to crush her. He had both his arms around her, squeezing tightly, and the only thing she managed to do was to set him on fire. He screamed, letting her go, and started to dance around, too panicked to think about rolling on the ground to extinguish the flames.

Elsewhere in the city, battles were also raging. The storm had calmed, no longer drowning out the sounds of screams and battle cries, or the sound of metal hitting metal. Fires had cropped up in numerous areas of Thunder Bluff, and several shaman were trying to combat the blazes.

Faith weaved her way between combatants, trying to find Magatha. As she moved, she incapacitated several more Grimtotem, before finally getting to an area on the Central Rise where the battle was fiercest. Sylvanas was there, using her bow like a sword, standing next to Baine, who was easily defeating the tauren trying to get to him. Magatha stood there, petrified with fear, watching everything with wide and disbelieving eyes.

Calling out a spell, Faith clapped her hands, imitated by the other mages in the area. Lights began to fall from the sky, causing all of the fighters to look up in amazement. It was only an illusion, but it worked well enough to distract the Grimtotem so that Baine could get to Magatha, Sylvanas right behind him.

"Hello, Magatha," he said in a low voice that everyone heard. "Is this how you take over Thunder Bluff? By executing people who had been loyal to my father, and by ushering in a reign of terror?"

"I had every right to take over Thunder Bluff."

"Not after you killed Cairne," said Sylvanas. She held a knife in her right hand, which she held to the crone's throat, "Give us one good reason why we shouldn't rip you apart."

Magatha said nothing, her eyes trying to keep the blade in sight. She backed away a couple of paces.

"The people who were in the prison," said Baine, "The Raincallers. They were slated for execution tomorrow, is that right?"

Faith's vision blurred for a moment as Sylvanas gave a cry of fury.

"You tried to have Faith's family  _killed_?" She leapt, and probably would have killed Magatha right there and then had Baine not physically restrained her, "I will rip you limb from limb, you hag!" she cried.

Running forward, Faith reached Sylvanas, forcing herself between her and Magatha, "Look at me, General," she told her sternly, putting a hand on her face. Glancing at Baine, she nodded, and he backed off, facing the crone again.

Sylvanas focused on her, "Faith."

"I'm okay. Everything's fine. My family's alive," she said, nodding towards where she could see them. Atalo looked exhausted, and it was obvious that he had been tortured, but he was alive, as were Taisha and Hamu. "See?"

"I… I thought I was too late again…"

Faith blinked, "Come back to the present, love," she whispered, stroking her cheek gently.

"I'm here." Sylvanas blinked, looking her up and down, probably checking for injuries. Ascertaining that she was fine, she turned back towards Magatha, "You hurt her family," she snarled.

"They were resisting!" snapped Magatha.

"Of course they resisted!" cried Faith, losing her temper now. "You killed Cairne!"

"Garrosh killed him."

"Garrosh might have dealt the blow to my father," said Baine quietly. "But you are the one who poisoned his blade. You are the guilty one here. Who did you have executed?"

Magatha said nothing.

"I can persuade her if you'd like, Baine," whispered Sylvanas.

"Oh, you really don't want that, Magatha," said Faith. "Trust me on that one." She raised her own spellblade, placing it against Magatha's throat. The blade was so sharp that she saw some of her black fur fall away from the area. "Speak."

Magatha swallowed, and, when she caught sight of Sylvanas' eyes flashing, she lost her nerve, "Members of the Proudwalker clan."

"Anybody else?" asked Baine.

Magatha swallowed, "The Cloudbinders, Elder Wildhoof, and the Plainhorn clan."

"The  _what_?" cried Faith. " _All of the Plainhorn Clan_?"

"All but one," said someone. "The daughter was nowhere to be found."

"Ishaka was with me…" whispered Faith. She heard a wail from behind her, and quickly turned around to see Ishaka falling to the ground. Leaving Sylvanas' side, she went to the female reaching her at the same time Hamu did.

She didn't listen to a word Baine said next, so worried was she about her future sister-in-law. She and Hamu helped Ishaka sit against a tree, and Hamu held her while Faith conjured a blanket and wrapped it around her. Taisha and Atalo arrived, both of them looking stricken.

"How many were in her clan?" asked Faith to Atalo in a quiet voice.

Atalo put a hand on her shoulder, "Five, including her. Her parents, and a couple of cousins."

Ishaka was sobbing into her hands. It took a few minutes, but eventually, they were able to get her inside an intact building. Faith started a small fire in the hearth, beginning to boil some water for tea.

Sylvanas joined them a while later, looking most unhappy, but the look on her face softened when she entered the room they were in.

"How is she?" she asked Faith, kissing her temple.

Faith shook her head, "She lost her entire family."

"We found out where they are," she lowered her voice and took her hand, leading her out of the tent. "And how they were killed."

"How?"

"They were pushed off the Elder Rise. As far as anybody could tell us, their bodies were left there."

Shock rolled over her. Turning away from Sylvanas, she knelt near a small tree and was sick as quietly as possible. Atalo, Taisha, and Hamu could have suffered the same fate.

Sylvanas put a hand on her back, rubbing slowly. "It's all right," she whispered, wrapping an arm around her and helping her up.

"It's not all right… we just got rid of the Scourge, and now we have this crazy tauren who executes people by pushing them to their deaths?" She took a handkerchief out of her pocket and wiped her mouth with it, "Baine won't kill her, will he?"

"No. He's exiled her, along with anybody still following her. The Grimtotem willing to follow Baine as High Chieftain of the tauren will be staying in Thunder Bluff." She shook her head, "I have to say, he's a better person than I am."

"Exiled… she just killed countless peaceful tauren, and that's all the punishment she gets…"

"Breathe. It's up to him what he does with the people who have betrayed him. I did tell her that if I ever saw her people in Forsaken lands, I would kill them."

Faith gave a nod, "I need to ask you something."

"Go ahead."

"What did you mean when you said that you thought that you had been too late again? Why the 'again', Sylvanas? When were you too late?"

Sylvanas looked at her for a few seconds before she answered. "I couldn't save your family before. I wanted to, but I only just arrived in time to save you. I never wanted you to suffer like that."

"Sylvanas…" Faith's voice broke. "My love, you… you couldn't have known what was happening! You came to Everstone Village even though your own family was…"

"I was closer to you than I was to Windrunner Village."

"Still. You didn't go looking for your family, you came for me."

"Of course I came for you. I'm sorry… I'm sorry I wasn't able to get there sooner…"

Faith put a finger on Sylvanas' cold lips, a tear running down her cheek, "Baby, you have nothing, nothing to apologize for. You saved my life in every possible way when you found me, my darling."

"I could have saved them," she whispered.

"Sylvanas, have you been holding on to this all these years? Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"Ah, because it won't bring them back. And I didn't want to see that look on your face again." She wiped a tear off Faith's face, "If we hadn't gotten here in time, I…"

Completely unused to Sylvanas showing that level of emotion, Faith felt momentarily lost. Conjuring some water and a clean cloth, she slowly began to wash the wound on Sylvanas' shoulder, not saying anything. Sylvanas watched her, keeping quiet as well, even when Faith began to murmur the necromantic spell to grow her skin back.

The sky was beginning to lighten on the horizon by the time the two of them went back into the building where Ishaka was. She was still crying softly, and Hamu sat near her, looking bewildered. Spotting Faith, he stood up and walked to her, hugging her.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

She nodded, "Oh, I'm fine, Hamu. And you? How's Atalo?"

"He'll be all right. The Grimtotem tortured him for a couple of hours yesterday, but he's tough." He looked back at Ishaka, "I don't know what to say to her. She won't stop crying."

"She lost her whole family, Hamu. You need to give it time."

"I know… but I wish I could do something for her."

Faith gently tugged at one of Hamu's braids, smoothing it, "Like what?"

"I don't know. But something."

"Do you remember what I was like when you first met me?"

"You cried for months."

"I went through what she's going through now and then some. There's nothing anybody can say or do in those circumstances. You need to let her grieve."

"Should we still get married?"

"Of course you should, but you have to give her some time. Wait a few weeks, and ask her again."

He looked to his left, surprised to see Sylvanas there.

"It's not easy to comfort someone you love when they're going through something like this," she said, taking Faith's hand and lacing their fingers together.

"How did you do it?"

Sylvanas blinked, surprised at the question, "We didn't have much time to think about it, really," she told him softly.

Hamu glanced at her, then back to Faith.

"The Scourge was right there. I didn't have the luxury to grieve immediately for my family. And then, well…" she shrugged.

"And then what?"

"Sylvanas was killed, and I pretty much lost my grip on sanity for a few months."

"I heard about those few months," said Sylvanas. "What did you do to comfort her, Hamu?"

Hamu thought for a moment, "Well, we were trying to give her a family life. We tried to make her feel like she belonged with us, because we didn't want her to feel alone. I think it worked after a while."

Faith smiled a little, "It did."

"There you go," nodded Sylvanas. "You need to do the same now. Give Ishaka some space to breathe and allow her to figure out what happened. But remind her that she's not alone in this."

"The best you can do is be there for her," added Faith.

Hamu gave a nod, going back to Ishaka moments later. Atalo and Taisha walked over, both of them hugging Faith tightly.

"Are you all right?" asked Taisha.

"I should be asking you this. You both need to rest."

Atalo shook his head, "We're all right, I promise. We need to plan the funerals. But first, we need to recover the bodies."

"Assuming they haven't been eaten," said Faith, feeling horrified at the thought.

"Let's go see what we can do," said Sylvanas. "Taisha, you should probably stay with Hamu and Ishaka."

"Food can help sometimes," Faith told her. "Especially yours."

Taisha smiled, putting a gentle hand on Faith's face, "Go, sweetheart. I'll have something ready for you when you return."

They didn't get back until just before noon, having found the pile of bodies at the foot of Elder Rise. All of them had been crushed almost beyond recognition, and some of them had indeed been partially eaten. Ishaka's father was missing part of his leg. Looking at the exposed tendons and muscles had reminded Faith unpleasantly of the Scourge.

Ishaka didn't join them for lunch, preferring to stay on her own. Faith went to her, grabbing a brush and sitting down with her. Not saying anything, she began to brush the tauren's fur slowly, trying to make it shine as much as possible. It didn't really work, but the sensation of being brushed allowed her to fall asleep for a short while.

"Sylvanas used to brush my hair sometimes," she said to Taisha later on. "It was one of the most relaxing things I had ever felt, though maybe that was because it was her."

"I haven't brushed your hair… since before I died, actually," whispered Sylvanas.

"You've brushed it since then."

"Yeah, to untangle it after I've helped you wash it. But I brushed your hair because I wanted to feel it against my skin back then."

"And now?"

"Now I have all of you, so it doesn't really matter."

Ishaka woke up an hour later and came to sit with them.

"Have you found my family?" she asked, her voice hoarse.

Sylvanas nodded, "We have."

"We've cleaned them up and dressed them again. We should be ready for the funeral in a few days."

"At Red Rocks?"

"Unless you want to hold it somewhere else," Faith told her.

"No… that's where they would want to be… will you help me anoint them? So that they can burn better?"

"Of course," said Faith. "Whatever you need."

The funerals were held that very week. Nobody spoke much during them, although many cried. Faith couldn't bear to see the look on Ishaka's face as her family was consumed by the flames.

But the most devastating funeral of all was Cairne's. It was the last of them, and every single leader of the Horde was there, along with most of the Alliance leaders. Thrall was there as well, and shared his memories of the great old bull, his friend and brother. He cried.

"I hope I can be worthy of him," said Baine quietly. His eyes were wet.

"You already are," Faith told him, squeezing his hand.

"Thank you for coming to help. I don't know what we would have done without you."

"You would have done just fine," stated Sylvanas. "Don't doubt yourself, and get yourself some good advisors."

"And don't forget, you can always ask us for advice if you need anything. It's what we're here for."

Baine smiled, "Thank you. Will you be returning to Undercity now?"

Faith nodded, "Yes. We have enough people to make portals to all of the capital cities, so we're going to do that. You'll have Thunder Bluff to yourself within the hour.

She wasn't wrong. The Alliance left first, going either to Stormwind, Theramore, or Teldrassil. Faith, Sylvanas, and the Forsaken departed shortly after, after Faith had said her goodbyes to her family.

"When are Hamu and Ishaka getting married?" wondered Sylvanas as they arrived in the Royal Quarter. "Have they said anything?"

"Not yet, and they really shouldn't rush it."

"You would have married me had I asked you right then."

"Probably, yes. But I don' think it would have been wise. It's always best to try and keep a sense of normalcy after a major death."

"Because you kept a sense of normalcy?" Sylvanas' eyebrows shot up.

"Well," laughed Faith, "I tried." She caught Sylvanas in an embrace, kissing her deeply, "You promised we would make love when we got home."

"Mmm. Did I? I shouldn't break my promise then, should I?" Picking Faith up, she carried her to their chamber.

As they made love, the earth several miles beneath them began to rumble.


	10. Chapter 10

The noises coming from inside the locked chamber were straight out of the naughtiest fantasy anybody could imagine.

The blonde Sin'dorei woman attempted not to scream as her lover burrowed her fingers deep inside her, sending sparks of pleasure shooting up and down her spine. It was futile. Sylvanas gave a throaty chuckle as Faith, her thighs quivering, unraveled around her hand, crying out her name and sitting up to kiss her.

It was an exquisite feeling, to have her cold fingers inside the warmth of Faith's body. She felt powerful when she caused Faith to climax in that manner. And as she straddled her, still moving up and down on her hand, Sylvanas could think of nothing else but getting her to climax again and again.

Other people all over Azeroth were engaged in similar activities, or going about their daily business.

Then all of a sudden, the world was torn apart.

The earth seemed to groan, and a wave, its height reaching one hundred feet, rose out of the depths of the ocean, travelling south east from the Maelstrom, which churned worse than ever, glowing red. The people living in Northern Stranglethorn, from the spiteful naga to the cunning goblins of Booty Bay, barely had time to react as the water overtook them. It crashed into the merchant town, destroying everything in its path and splitting an anchored ship in half as easily as a child would have snapped a twig.

In Kalimdor, the ground rippled as though giant worms were burrowing beneath the surface. Guard towers toppled over as the terrain split open to reveal an enormous fissure filled with bubbling lava. Countless kodos tumbled to their deaths, shrieking in terror.

The people of Orgrimmar screamed as the zeppelin towers crashed to the ground and the gates at the entrance of the city shattered, crushing several orcs below. Terrified wind riders took to the skies, heedless of their masters' cries to stay put. Fires erupted everywhere as torches fell to the ground, igniting dried animal skins that had been stretched over roofs.

South of Orgrimmar, the area of Thousand Needles suddenly flooded as another huge wave crashed there. The water reached as far inland as Feralas, stranding animals and people alike.

At almost the same time, a third wall of water crashed into Western Lordaeron and Gilneas. The Forsaken soldiers stationed at the Sepulcher thought they were hallucinating when they saw water rushing towards them. Several trees were uprooted, and the Horde ships that had been moored at the docks of Silverpine Forest capsized, sending countless sailors into the sea. Many of the orcs drowned.

Other Forsaken soldiers who had been standing guard near Gilneas on Sylvanas' orders noticed that something was going on behind the Greymane Wall. Suddenly, a violent earthquake shook the entire area, from the wall until the Bulwark, sending carrion birds flying off in multiple directions, uprooting more trees, and cracking the wall that had stood for so long.

Faith and Sylvanas were just getting out of bed when the earthquake struck. Hearing an ominous sound when everything began to shake, Sylvanas grabbed Faith, rolling them beneath the bed and staying on top of her, her head pressed between Faith's shoulder blades to keep her from rolling them over.

"Sylvanas!"

"You're okay, Faith," she said.

"Not me! You!"

One of the dressers crashed to the floor, shattering on impact. Likewise, the weapon shelf on which various staves, spellblades, bows and arrows were stored, fell, spilling sharpened blades all over the place. One of them skidded across the floor, deeply cutting Faith's arm.

"Stay under me!" cried Sylvanas.

Faith moved her arm so as to shield Sylvanas' back as much as she could, but the Banshee Queen was having none of it.

"I don't want you hurt!" she sobbed.

Sylvanas kissed her shoulder, "Shh, baby, it's okay."

Faith cried out as part of the bed collapsed onto them. "No!"

"I'm all right, Faith!"

Forcibly turning herself around, Faith hugged Sylvanas tightly to herself, trying to keep the debris off of her with a spell, although she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her shin. Closing her eyes, she pressed her face against Sylvanas' and waited for everything to end.

The earthquake finally stopped. Faith stirred, coughing once.

"Sylvanas?" she asked tentatively. "My love?"

"I'm here."

A tear ran down Faith's cheek, "I thought I was going to lose you."

"It takes more than the city collapsing to kill me. Can you wriggle out from under me?"

Faith tried, and found that she couldn't really move. She became aware of a great weight pinning her down, not just Sylvanas' weight, but also the bed, and possibly parts of the ceiling.

"Sylvanas, are you hurt?"

"Don't worry about me, Faith, I'm already dead."

"I don't care if you're already dead. I don't want you to be permanently dead. Now, are you hurt?"

"My lower back and my legs are pinned. I think I kept the worst of it from you." She tried lifting her head to look at Faith, but couldn't. "How's your arm?"

"I'm all right, love, you don't have to protect me all the time, you know. You could have saved yourself."

"And left you alone, right. You wouldn't do that to me."

"Well, no, but you're my Sylvanas."

She chuckled, "And you're my Faith. Honestly, though, can you move at all?"

"I can try."

She painstakingly moved one of her arms from around Sylvanas' body, trying to be careful about not dislodging whatever was resting on top of her. Her shield spell was still holding, although she was afraid it was going to shatter at any moment, bringing more weight upon the two of them.

"Try pulling yourself free."

She did, but the moment she moved, the debris on top of them began to shift.

"Lady Sylvanas!" cried someone outside the door. Rotvine. "Faith! Are you in there?"

Sylvanas glanced at Faith, "Sorry, love, this is going to be loud." She opened her mouth and gave a cry, "Yes, we're in here! Get us out would you?"

Faith shut her eyes, nearly deafened by Sylvanas' voice so close to her ears. "By the gods, can't you control that?" she asked, barely able to hear herself speaking. Her ears were ringing.

The doorknob rattled, and there was the sound of someone trying to force open the door. "It's stuck! Hang on, I'll try a spell."

They heard a brief incantation, and something hitting the door, causing it to give a little. "Easy, Carrick," said another guard. "You could cave in this entire section of the city if you're not careful."

Faith stroked Sylvanas' wrist, "If we don't get out of here for some reason," she began.

"We'll be fine."

"I know. But if we're not…"

Sylvanas looked down at her, her red eyes glowing in the darkness.

"If we're not, please know that I love you. And I will never stop loving you."

Sylvanas kissed her, deeply, and that was how Rotvine and the three guards found them, half-buried under what remained of the bed, a slab of wall resting against them.

Just as they were being pulled out, something exploded out of the raging Maelstrom. Something enormous that had the shape of a ferocious black dragon. The shape screamed, and as it did, so did the skies and the ocean.

Deathwing, for the shape was the Aspect of the Earth, began to fly north, sending monstrous waves towards the nearest landmass: Northrend. Coastlines were battered by the water, and many people were killed from the Borean Tundra down to the Howling Fjord, but the worst was yet to come.

The great dragon veered suddenly, skirting around the Kalimdor coast, and began a dangerous flight south. He was flying so fast that not many people realized what was happening. He came to Darkshore, his wings flapping hard. The night elven town of Auberdine was utterly destroyed, the subsequent waves travelling all the way to Teldrassil and shattering Rut'Theran Village as well. Waters rose, engulfing the land and the bewildered creatures in it. In nearby Winterspring, a monstrous avalanche devastated part of the area.

Deathwing wasn't done. Such was his fury and his need to destroy that he kept going, happily destroying the island of Kezan in his haste to get to the Eastern Kingdoms.

The people of Stormwind were stunned when they saw the giant black dragon settling onto their city. They had no time to react as he exhaled a great breath, destroying the city's park and everyone who had been there, including a gathering of druids who had been visiting from Teldrassil.

Earthquakes rattled the continent, creating devastating whirlpools in Stranglethorn Vale and additional avalanches in Khaz Modan. More tsunamis assaulted the coastlines, ripping apart ships as far north as Quel'Danas and Tirisfal Glades.

By the time Faith and Sylvanas had been freed from the debris of their chamber, the face of Azeroth had irrevocably changed.

"What in the name of the Sunwell happened?" asked Faith, picking up a dressing gown from the floor and wrapping it around Sylvanas' naked body before doing the same for herself. She winced as a priest ran a hand over her leg and arm, healing her.

"A very powerful earthquake," said Rotvine. "This part of the city, along with the Apothecarium, suffered greatly. Part of Brill collapsed too."

"Fantastic," muttered Sylvanas. "Anything else?"

"There's flooding in Silverpine Forest. The Sepulcher was completely overrun by water, and Lordamere Lake has risen quite a bit. Oh, and we've lost all our docks and the ships that were there."

" _All_  our ships?" cried Faith.

"That's what one of our mages said."

"Casualties?" asked Sylvanas.

Rotvine hesitated, "Here in the city, we know of about twenty deaths so far. It's worse at the docks, both here and in Silverpine. A lot of people who weren't dead to begin with were killed."

"How many, Carrick?"

"Around one hundred."

Sylvanas cursed softly, "What about the rest of Lordaeron?"

"I didn't hear of anything else locally, not yet. But we're beginning to hear from people in the Cenarion Circle. Something happened in Kalimdor as well."

"What do you mean, something happened there as well?"

"There are ambassadors waiting to talk to you. They were dispatched by Hamuul Runetotem to inform us of the situation."

"Lead the way."

Rotvine looked at both Faith and Sylvanas, "You don't want to get dressed first?"

Making an exasperated sound in the back of her throat, Sylvanas ordered everyone out while she and Faith quickly pulled on whatever was available to them. Five minutes later, they had picked their way through the ruined corridor that led to the Royal Quarter and emerged into the throne room.

Every tapestry that had hung on the walls was now on the floor, the stone appearing cracked in several places. Sylvanas' chair had topped off its dais and lay shattered where it had fallen. But other than that, the damage there seemed to be minimal.

"Oh, the elevators have been disabled too," Rotvine told her.

"All of them?"

"The only one still functioning is a little rickety. I don't think it would be wise to use it. And the entrance to the sewers has been blocked."

"Are you telling me that we're stuck inside the city, just like that?" asked Faith.

"For now. We can fix everything, there's no need to worry. And the portals still work."

"I'm not worried for myself so much as the other living creatures in Undercity who will likely panic at the thought of not being able to get outside at all."

Sylvanas gently took Faith's wrist, squeezing once to indicate that she ought to pay attention to the tauren ambassador who had arrived. The male druid looked shaken.

"What is your name?" Sylvanas asked him.

The tauren opened his mouth and swallowed once, briefly running his hand over his nose. Faith quickly cast a spell on him to enable him to smell something other than death and decay.

"Sorry about that," said Faith. "I guess that the earthquake affected the spells we usually have around the city to make the air more breathable."

"Thank you, Major." He looked at Sylvanas, "My name is Huka Paleclaw, your Majesty."

"Rotvine said that you had something to tell us about Kalimdor?"

"Yes… it's been horrible." He opened his mouth to keep speaking, but couldn't for a moment.

"Take your time, my friend," said Faith gently. She glanced at Sylvanas with a worried look on her face.

"It was Deathwing."

"I beg your pardon?" Sylvanas didn't seem to believe what she had heard.

"Deathwing, the Destroyer. He's responsible for all of this. The earthquakes we've been feeling, the avalanches, the elemental unrest… everything."

"I'm sorry, Huka," asked Faith, "but what exactly do you mean?"

He shook his head, "We're not exactly sure. I was flying back to Moonglade when I saw this… this thing flying at an insane speed down the coast." He tried to speak again, but whatever he had seen had been so horrible that he lapsed into Taur-ahe.

Faith translated automatically.

"He says that he saw Deathwing destroy a night elven town in Darkshore. Most of the coastline there has been obliterated." She waited for Sylvanas to nod before continuing, "A lot of the animals there have been killed as well. All in all, the ecosystem has been irrevocably damaged."

"But what exactly happened?"

Huka shook his head, "We do not know exactly. Just that a lot of places have been destroyed."

Throughout the following day, reports came in from all over Azeroth, detailing the damage that had been wrought by Deathwing's furious passage. Faith, for her part, went to Silverpine Forest to assess the situation there.

It could have been much worse, she knew that, as the hills had protected them from the worst of the waves, but the ground was boggy because of all the water, and close to sixty orcs had been killed when their ships had capsized. The few survivors, badly shaken by their experience, had managed to tell Faith that there were some orcs still missing, but they weren't anywhere on the ships from what she could see.

"Considering what happened in Darkshore," Rotvine told her, "I think that we can consider ourselves lucky."

Faith winced. The reports that had come from Darkshore had been heart-wrenching. Even Sylvanas had been silent upon hearing of the destruction of the village of Auberdine. After the war in Northrend, the loss of so many lives was difficult to bear.

"Lucky… yes, I suppose we can say that," she told him quietly. She looked around at the uprooted trees, noting several carrion birds circling overhead near a landslide that had occurred. "It's too bad the waves didn't crash further into Lordaeron to obliterate whatever remains of the Scourge there."

Rotvine looked towards where he knew the Greymane Wall to be, "Do you think that we're going to do anything about the worgen?"

"Oh yes. Sylvanas wants complete control over all of Lordaeron, and she's had her sights set on Gilneas for a long time. Garrosh will most probably support her there. You know how he adores bloodshed." She set the remains of a wolf on fire, which proved difficult because of her damp surroundings.

They returned to Undercity with fifty-seven coffins and the survivors, who swore that they would never be on another ship again. Faith created portals for them so that they could get back to Orgrimmar and inform Garrosh of the deaths.

"We've just had memorial services and funerals for everyone killed during the war," she said to Sylvanas that evening as she changed into warmer robes. "Now this happens. I mean, can't we catch a break?"

"We live in a tumultuous world, Faith. If it's not one thing, it's another, and you, unfortunately, are with me, which means that you're at the forefront of most of the Forsaken battles."

"And that means what? That I get to be with you, even if I have to see my friends and family die?"

Sylvanas put a hand under Faith's chin, "That means that neither of us have the luxury of living a quiet life in the woods raising hawkstriders." She frowned for a minute, " _You_  have that luxury, actually, I don't."

"You wouldn't let me go."

"Me?!" Sylvanas appeared affronted. "You're the one who refuses to leave."

Faith didn't smile, but took a step closer to the queen, "I don't want to be separated from you."

Sylvanas stood her ground, "I know," she said slowly. "Sometimes, things separate us. Most of the time it's duty, and other times, it might be a runeblade. That doesn't mean you and I are separated. Not really."

Putting a hand on Sylvanas' face, Faith didn't even bother to hide her lust. She kissed her deeply, her tongue stroking her banshee's, her arms holding her close. "I love you."

"Yes, you love me. And I love you." Sylvanas gently disengaged herself from Faith's embrace, "We have work to do. And, as much as you'll hate it, I need you to check on the other capital cities and see what damage was done there."

"Did I not just tell you that I didn't want to be away from you?"

A small smile, "That you did. But come on, you know that as soon as you come back, you and I will have a reunion, and you're already looking forward to it."

Faith was pouting, "That doesn't mean I like being away from you."

"I don't like it any more than you do, sweetheart. But this needs to be done, and you're the person I trust most with it. Besides, I know you'd like to help Hamu and Ishaka with wedding preparations."

"She just buried her parents. Hamu doesn't even know whether she wants to get married anymore."

"Well, go find out. But stop in Silvermoon first to see whether you can do anything to help Lor'themar. Who knows what happened in Quel'Thalas after this disaster."

As it turned out, Faith's home hadn't been badly affected by Deathwing. Sunsail Anchorage had been damaged, but as it had been overrun with Wretched at the time, it didn't really matter. Most of the ships anchored in every elven port had suffered greatly, but not many lives had been lost.

In Durotar and the Barrens, however, things were very different. The landscape had changed because of earthquakes and flooding. There was water in areas that had never seen any before, and hundreds of people had perished.

"They got it worse in Darkshore," said Katuk, who was investigating the damage with Faith. "The word is that nearly six-thousand elves died."

Faith gave a low whistle, "That's quite a body count, more than half of what we lost at the Wrathgate altogether."

The orc nodded, "I daresay there will be more. Rumor has it that Deathwing is roaming around someplace, destroying more areas. The shaman are sending people to Deepholm to try and figure things out."

"Deepholm?" asked Faith.

"Yes, and to the rest of the elemental plane, although I don't quite know how that's going to work out. But they think that it'll be the best way to get to the root of the problem."

"We've got a rough time ahead of us, don't we?" she told him.

"Looks like it. We're having problems with this cult that calls itself the Twilight's Hammer. You remember them."

"I've heard of them, but only in passing. What do they want?"

"Pretty much the same thing every other cult wants: to destroy us. But there's a twist to them."

Faith snorted, "Something about letting the Old Gods go free, no doubt."

"That's exactly it."

"I daresay we'll be fighting them, although I have no idea with what. We're still recovering from the war against the Scourge."

"Thrall thinks this is why Deathwing struck when he did. He knew that we weren't as strong because we were tired. The recent upheavals with the Horde and the Alliance certainly played in his favor as well."

Faith allowed her gaze to roam over the broken landscape in front of her, seeing several animals that had been crushed by falling boulders. Carrion birds feasted on their rotting flesh. "The world was torn asunder in one day. We haven't had time to rebuild our forces after the last war we went through. And now we have to fight again."

She sighed.

"Tell Garrosh the Forsaken will do whatever needs to be done. I'll go to Mulgore to see how the tauren are doing before returning to Undercity."

Katuk nodded, turning on his heel and leaving her.

The sun burned down upon her head. As she looked around, a wind elemental roared past her, ignoring her completely. She did the same, her mind occupied with other things at that moment.


	11. Chapter 11

The plains of Mulgore looked quiet from the heights of Thunder Bluff. The warm wind carried with it the fragrance of grass and crisp air. One could have thought that this part of the world was peaceful and safe.

Except that it wasn't. The tauren shaman worked tirelessly in order to keep the elementals as calm as possible. They had been stirred into a frenzy when Deathwing had burst forth from Deepholm, and they wanted nothing more than to destroy everything in their path.

Faith had flown over Darkshore to see what had happened there, and had been stunned by what she had seen. According to her sources, whatever remained of Auberdine had been overrun by the Twilight's Hammer, catching the few survivors unawares. Garrosh had sent forces into Ashenvale to make sure that they didn't spill over into the forest, but Faith was aware that the only reason he had gone there had been because he had wanted the forests for himself.

Three weeks had passed since the world had been torn apart. Random earthquakes still shook the ground, but for the most part, things were quiet, except for the elementals.

"It's still beautiful, isn't it?" asked someone behind her.

Faith smiled at Atalo, putting a hand on his back. "It really is."

"If Sylvanas were to find someone else to rule in her stead, do you think the two of you would settle in Thunder Bluff?"

The suggestion was cute, and Faith chuckled, "Maybe in the Pools of Vision," she said. "Sylvanas doesn't handle the sun too well if she's in it too long." She sighed, "She was so beautiful in the sun when she was alive. Her hair was like spun gold when she was outside, did you know that? It was so light and airy, and it flowed like water whenever she moved."

She closed her eyes, remembering. Sylvanas in the sun, lying down on the warm grass as Prince drank at a nearby stream. Her laughing at a random comment as the rays of the sun played in her hair…

"You miss her."

"I always miss her."

"No, I mean you miss her living being."

"Oh… yes, of course I do. I mean, I know I was lucky with Sylvanas. She died, but even after that, I was able to tell her that I loved her. I was able to interact with her the way I always had. Of course, she's a completely different person now than she was before, but she still remembers everything from her previous life. She remembers how much she loved me."

"Oh, I don't doubt that, judging by the way she interacts with you." He looked behind himself and nodded. The next moment, Faith felt a cold hand on her back.

She closed her eyes, leaning back against Sylvanas. "What are you doing here?" she asked, feeling that Atalo was leaving them alone.

"I haven't seen you in three weeks, and I missed you," said Sylvanas simply. "When are you coming home?"

"You told me to come back next week, so that's what I was planning on doing. Is that all right?"

Sylvanas kissed her cheek, "Mmm. Yes, it's all right."

"You came here to tell me that you missed me?" asked Faith incredulously.

"No, I came here because your brother asked me for advice."

"Hamu did?" Faith turned to look at her, her eyes wide. "And… you came here? You came here to give advice to someone that I know you don't really like all that much?"

"You sound shocked."

"I am!"

"He's your brother. You care about him. He's your family. That's why I'm here."

Faith stared at her, "I think you deserve a kiss for that."

"I won't refuse it," said Sylvanas, leaning down and kissing her first. Heat simmered between them as Faith wrapped her arms around her, their kiss deepening. Sylvanas pulled her closer, pressing their bodies together, and Faith made a sound of need, grinding against her.

Sylvanas pulled away first, "Okay, okay… we'll end up doing something indecent if we don't stop."

"I don't mind."

"Your father might, as he's pretending not to watch us."

A smile, "All right, but you owe me another kiss."

" _You_  are the one who said I deserved a kiss for coming here because your brother asked for my help. I don't really owe you anything."

"You don't like kissing me?" asked Faith, her face a mask of innocence.

"There's a question that really needs an answer," muttered Sylvanas. "Let's go see what your brother wants, shall we?"

They found Hamu sitting just outside his family's home, carving a piece of wood that he had jammed between his knees. He looked up when he heard them approach, the look on his face clearly showing his surprise at seeing Sylvanas.

"Lady Sylvanas," he said, dropping the knife in his hand and pushing himself up, "I didn't expect you to come."

"I thought I'd take the opportunity to come and see you in person. You asked for my help."

Hamu blinked, "I didn't think you would actually come here," he said, glancing at Faith. "Not for me, anyway."

"He's got you there," Faith told her.

"I certainly won't deny the fact that having you here made my decision easier," said Sylvanas. "Now, go away. Your brother and I have things to discuss, and they're not for your ears."

Faith looked sad suddenly, "Did you come here to talk about grief?"

"I know a thing or two about it."

"Yeah, so do I."

Sylvanas put both her hands on Faith's shoulders and looked directly into her eyes, "Yes. But you've never had to comfort the one you loved over grief. Not like this."

"Lirath," said Faith.

Sylvanas briefly closed her eyes, "Yes, when Lirath died, you were with me. I didn't really admit it then, but I needed you more than anything, and the fact that you were there for me… you brought me comfort. He asked for my help because he doesn't want to cause you unnecessary pain."

"What about your pain?"

"I can manage that."

"I don't want you in pain."

"I'm not." Sylvanas rubbed their noses together, "Now go."

"All right. Come and find me later, I guess. If you want."

Sylvanas watched as she walked away before taking a seat next to Hamu, "So. You're worried about Ishaka."

"She barely eats anything, and she hasn't stopped crying since…"

"Since her family died. Faith told you that it would take some time."

"Other people I know have lost their family. They didn't react that way."

Sylvanas pursed her lips for a moment, "Different people react in different ways to loss. I beat Faith half to death after I saw my mother's corpse a few years ago. But when I lost my brother, all I wanted was for Faith to be there for me." She looked at the bit of carved wood, "Why don't you want to ask Faith how to deal with it?"

"Because she grieves for you, not for her family."

"You're wrong about that. My death affected her in the worst possible way, but she took it as hard as she did because she was suddenly left with nobody. I died only five days after she lost her entire village to the Scourge."

"She never talks about it."

"Of course she doesn't. It hurts her to talk it over, although she should." She picked up a discarded piece of wood and began to carve it with her own knife, working carefully as she talked. "When I got to Everstone Village on the day it all began, Faith was the last survivor. To this day, I have no idea how she managed to stay alive long enough for me to get to her."

Hamu listened, his eyes on the piece of wood in her hands.

"What happened to her family destroyed her. The Scourge invasion was so swift that none of us had time to assimilate any of it. I got Faith out of Everstone Village, but once we stopped, I didn't know what to do. This was the girl I had loved for nearly a century, and she had just lost everything. Everything."

"She still had you," he said in a low voice.

"Yes, she still had me."

"What did you do for her when you got her away?"

"You need to understand that the Scourge was right at our heels. We didn't know them then like we do now. We had to fight, we didn't have much time for grief." She bit her lip, flicking her wrist as the point of her knife sliced through the wood, "I changed her clothes, I gave her some food and I held her as she cried. Honestly, I couldn't do much more than that."

She closed her eyes again, feeling Faith siting down behind her and resting her head against her shoulder.

"I made a promise to myself that I would always protect her." She blinked once, a tear falling from her eye and instantly turning to dust. "She didn't have anybody else."

"But you died," whispered Hamu.

"Yes. I died, and I daresay that Faith was unhinged by it."

Faith didn't answer, but rubbed Sylvanas' back gently.

"And you couldn't comfort her? Even after?"

"After. After I died, you mean? I wasn't pleasant when I first got my body back. Everyone, except for maybe this girl right here," Sylvanas reached back to give Faith a brief pat on the leg, "would say that I'm downright hateful even now. But when Faith first came back to me, I had no patience for tears or grief. I didn't want to be around her crying. The Scourge purged me of most of the feelings I had had in life."

"But?"

"But she worked her way under my skin. Again. She still grieves, Hamu, every day."

Hamu looked alarmed, "But she…"

"She's not in a dark pit of despair anymore, but she still has moments." She continued her carving, and Faith opened her eyes to watch. "Some people grieve for the people they've lost their entire lives. After a while, they learn to deal with it and move on. Ishaka will too, it may just take her some time."

"How long, though?"

Faith gave a sigh, "You can't quantify something like this, Hamu," she told him, her voice watery.

"I just don't want her to be in pain."

"No, of course not. But you can't expect her to wake up one day and feel completely okay."

"You did."

Both Faith and Sylvanas chuckled, "No she didn't. Trust me. Sometimes, I can't get her out of bed because she's paralyzed by sadness."

"Even after all this time?"

"It doesn't happen as often anymore. But it can."

"How do you stand it?"

"It hurts me to see her in pain and know that I caused it."

"You didn't cause it!" exclaimed Faith immediately.

"Indirectly, I did. In any case, it hurts me. Not physically, but on a deeper level. She's in pain, and it's my fault, and there's nothing I can do to protect her from it. I can be as hard as I want towards her, it won't stop her feeling it. So I try to be there for her. Just like she's here for me now while I talk about it."

"So you're saying I need to be there for Ishaka."

"You love her," said Faith. "She's in pain, and you want to help her. She may only need you to be there for her. You don't have to do anything special. You just have to listen to her and hold her if she needs it, and give her space if she asks for it. Kind of like what you guys did for me when I landed in your laps."

"She's at the lake now…" he began. "But I… I don't know."

"You need to try," said Sylvanas. "She cares about you, and you being there should help her."

"What if it doesn't?"

Sylvanas looked up from her carving, "Then you'll ask your sister for more advice. Go see your beloved. She's been without you far too long."

Understanding that he had been dismissed, Hamu took some time getting to his feet, taking his things inside the house before he began walking towards the lake. Watching him go, Faith kissed the back of Sylvanas' neck.

"Thank you," she said.

"For what?"

"For being here."

The rest of the day went by without Hamu returning home. Nobody was worried, figuring that he was exactly where he needed to be. Faith and Sylvanas saw him the next morning, accompanied by Ishaka, who looked tired, but a bit more composed than she had been as of late.

They walked towards the little copse of trees she and Sylvanas were standing under, keeping away from the sun.

"We've decided to go through our life ceremony now," said Hamu, putting his arm around Ishaka.

"Now?!" exclaimed Faith. "Just like that?"

"We don't want to wait. I mean, what's the point?"

Faith had a million reasons why the two of them should wait to do this. Ishaka was still mourning, it was evident in the way she acted, and after everything that had happened during the cataclysm, there were many other things to be done besides getting married. But her mind flashed to her and Sylvanas. They could have been married when she had been alive. They should have done, and she regretted her hesitation bitterly. Despite what Sylvanas said, Faith knew that she regretted it as well.

"If it's something that you both want," said Sylvanas, "then you should go for it. I just think that your sister would like the opportunity to organize something very big."

"Our ceremonies are different than for elves, I expect," said Ishaka quietly. "For us, it's a day of celebration, yes, but all one needs to organize is the same kind of feast you would have for any other large event."

Faith opened her mouth to say something, but Sylvanas stepped closer to her.

"I think we can arrange something. Faith and I can go hunting and bring back plenty of food for the feast." She took Faith's hand, squeezing it hard once.

"Of course we can," she replied, offering them a natural smile "Do you have a specific date in mind, or do you want to do this tonight?"

"Tomorrow," said Hamu.

"That may require some magic," Faith told him. "But I think we'll manage to make it great. Have you told our parents yet?"

"We're about to. I just wanted to make sure you were okay with it."

"Of course I'm okay with it." Gently tugging her hand out of Sylvanas' grip, Faith hugged both her brother and Ishaka. "Go. We'll take care of this."

"Thanks," said Hamu.

Faith watched them go, feeling one too many emotions that were difficult to separate.

"I thought you would have been more supportive of them," said Sylvanas.

"I'm perfectly supportive."

"You think they're rushing it."

"I think that it's unwise for them to do this so soon after Ishaka's entire family was killed. He's doing it now because he thinks that it will make her happier."

"And you don't think that it will?"

"I think that she needs to take the time to grieve for her family and wait a little before she leaps into this with her eyes closed."

"She trusts him."

"I did too, and you didn't see me make that kind of a decision!"

Sylvanas just looked at her, her eyes giving away nothing whatsoever. "And that's my fault, isn't it?" she asked after a few moments had passed in tense silence.

"Your fault? I never said it was your –."

"You didn't need to." Turning away from Faith, Sylvanas began striding towards the elevator. She knew Faith would follow her eventually, which she did, wearing a black tunic and leather leggings with her boots. Together, they took the elevators down to the plains of Mulgore, not saying a word and staring in opposite directions. Only when they had begun to walk among the tall grasses of the plains did Faith take her hand.

"Sylvanas."

"Don't."

"I don't blame you for anything, you know this."

"Do I?"

"Yes you do. Look at me." Faith pulled at her until they faced each other, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." She tried to move, but Faith's grip on her was strong. "Let go."

"Please tell me what's wrong."

Sylvanas adopted a stern demeanor that would have normally sent people running from her, "Faith. Let. Me. Go."

But she didn't. Instead, she wrapped both her arms around her in a very tight hug, "No. I'll never let you go, Sylvanas. Never."

"Yes, I noticed that," she murmured, her anger evaporating on the spot. "Would you please release me?"

Faith snuggled against her, "No. I like to hold you."

"Are you trying to get out of hunting for your brother's wedding?"

"No. I just like to hold you."

Sylvanas kissed the top of her head, "Come on."

Faith let her go, reaching down to pick up the bow she had dropped.

They hunted for several hours, bringing down several huge plainstriders that would easily feed fifty people or more. Using a spell, Faith transported them to Thunder Bluff after every kill so that Atalo, who was waiting for the meat, could begin to get the food ready. By the time they made it back to the tauren capital, the sun was beginning to set, and Faith was feeling a contented exhaustion coming over her.

Sylvanas put her to bed, kissing her gently as she tucked her in, "I love you," she said.

"I love you too. Stay with me?"

"I'm not going anywhere. Go to sleep. We have a big day tomorrow."

She woke up several hours later, finding that her room was empty. The only trace of Sylvanas was the faint aroma of her, sweet spices. Deciding to get up, she left her room, and froze.

Sylvanas lay on the floor of the hut, blood seeping from a wound on her abdomen. Her blue eyes were wide open, but clearly dead, as Arthas gently pulled a runeblade from her ruined body.

"She will never come back to you," he said in a clotted voice. "Never. She belongs to me now. You won't ever get her back."

Faith shrieked Sylvanas' name, wanting to rip Arthas limb from limb. In the back of her mind, she knew he was already dead, she had killed him. But the feeling of despair was stronger than anything else.

Cold arms wrapped themselves around her. "Faith!"

She screamed.

"Wake up, my love, it's all right, it's all right."

Thrashing around, Faith opened her eyes. Sylvanas was right beside her, holding her tightly.

"Shh, baby."

"Sylvanas…"

"I'm right here."

"But you're dead…" she began to sob, hot tears rolling down her face. A moment later the door opened to reveal Atalo and Hamu, both of them having clearly leapt out of bed as soon as Faith had started to scream.

"I've got her," Sylvanas told them as Taisha rushed in, looking worried.

"Are you sure you don't need any help?"

"Thanks. She'll be all right."

Faith was still crying when her family left. Sylvanas frowned, pulling back the sheets to reveal that, unbelievably, Faith's nightmare had been so intense that she had soiled herself.

"All right, my darling, I want you to calm down. Please? Can you do that for me?"

It took a while, but she stopped crying, looking miserable.

"I'm beginning to think that you like it when I wash you," said Sylvanas, undressing her and pouring water into the wooden tub that was in the room. "Could you warm this?"

Faith did. The water began to steam slightly.

Sylvanas extended her hand, and, wordlessly, Faith took it before stepping into the tub.

Cleaning excrement was very low on Sylvanas' list of favorite activities. Ordinarily, she would have let Faith wash herself, but she seemed so distraught by the nightmare, which was simply a variation of a nightmare she'd had hundreds of times, that she couldn't bring herself to leave her lover alone in that condition.

"You're going to owe me for this," she told her gently as she dried her off.

Faith's voice was hollow, "I owe you for a lot more than this."

Perhaps she did, but Sylvanas wasn't going to discuss that now. After all this time, Faith was still having nightmares bad enough to put her in that state. Killing Arthas should have put an end to it, but it hadn't. Would she ever feel happy again? Truly happy? Was it possible?

She didn't know whether she had the answer to that question.


	12. Chapter 12

Birds were perched on the lowest branches of the trees, chirping interestedly as they watched the preparations going on below them. Every once in a while, one of them would venture down to steal a crumb that fell off the heavily laden table. The third time this happened, the elf with the long golden hair took a slice of bread and crumpled it so that the birds could have something more substantial to eat.

"She's feeding birds now," said Sylvanas quietly, coming up behind her.

"You used to feed birds too, once upon a time."

"I did no such thing."

"I beg to differ, but I remember you doing exactly that several times when we were eating at your house during a hot summer's day."

"It was always summer at home, except when the apprentice mages accidentally sent us a snowstorm, or when there was a holiday."

"Exactly!" said Faith happily. She turned around and looked at her queen with bright eyes, "I remember you holding out your hand filled with bread crumbs, so that blue jays could land on your palm and start eating."

"Are you sure that wasn't a dream?" Sylvanas asked her.

"Sometimes, it all feels like a dream," answered Faith, reaching out to touch Sylvanas' face. "But then I wake up and find that the nightmare was actually real."

"Oh, I walked right into that one," muttered Sylvanas, stepping closer to Faith. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"About you feeding birds? Gladly." Faith kissed her once, "There's a particular instance I remember. It was a few weeks after Lirath… after we buried him. Anyways, we were having a picnic around the area near your house where the woods met the beach, and birds kept coming down to steal scraps from the blanket. Finally, you put some bread in your hand and let them eat right out of your palm. You weren't even wearing your uniform, just some dark brown leather shorts and a white tunic. Your legs were muscled."

Sylvanas remembered that day, now that Faith was mentioning it. The memory washed over her so strongly that, for a moment, she could smell the ocean, mingled with the light perfume Faith had worn. "You had on a pale orange dress that day, didn't you? A short one."

Faith's cheeks colored, "You remember that?"

"Just because I don't talk about them doesn't mean I don't remember most things about you. You wearing a revealing dress for me is certainly something that stuck out in my mind."

"You like it when I wear revealing clothing?" asked Faith innocently. "Because I can reveal myself to you right now."

Sylvanas chuckled, "Tonight, maybe, after the ceremony, although I suspect your brother will want the house to himself."

"Ah! Sylvanas!" Faith clapped her hands over her ears, "Gross!"

"What? He'll be married. You'll have to expect him to have s –."

"La, la, la, I'm not hearing you!"

Beginning to laugh in earnest, Sylvanas went to Faith, prying her hands away from her ears. Faith struggled, squealing and laughing.

"I don't wanna hear it!" she cried, giggling.

Sylvanas wrapped both her arms around her, bringing her lips to Faith's ear, "You and I have sex," she whispered. "Often. And I certainly don't hear you complaining about that."

A shiver coursed through Faith's body, "Well…" she swallowed. "I do complain, but that's just because we don't make love enough."

"Okay, if I made love to you as often as I wanted to, we'd hardly do anything else."

"I'm game if you are."

"How did we stumble onto this conversation?"

Faith smiled, "You're the one who started talking about me revealing myself." She turned around, wrapping her arms around her lover and kissing her deeply.

"You're both acting like you're the ones getting married today!" called a tauren, one of Hamu's friends.

Faith and Sylvanas broke apart, Faith smiling a little before she caught the look on Sylvanas' face. "Let's just say that my brother's happiness is contagious," she said.

"That must be it," muttered Sylvanas. "Because you and I can't be happy on our own, right?" She made to leave, but Faith's hold on her tightened enough to bruise a living person.

"Come back here and kiss me."

"Don't we have things to finish before the ceremony?"

"Not really. We have an hour to relax before we have to get ready. What are you going to wear?"

"I am not wearing a dress. I wouldn't wear one to my own wedding, much less anything else."

"Of course you'd wear a dress to your wedding. A pretty white one, with no sleeves, maybe some sparkling lace on the bodice, overlaying shimmering silk."

"You would have me wear a  _white_  dress to my wedding…" Sylvanas shook her head, "I might wear a black dress, if really pushed."

"Good! Then I have something for you." Faith took her hand and dragged her towards her family's home.

"I'm not wearing a dress."

"Please?" begged Faith. "It'll suit you, I promise." They entered Faith's room, where a couple of dresses were laid out. One of them was obviously Faith's, a black strapless dress with a corset bodice from which flowed raw black silk, looking like a cascade of ink. The one next to it was much shorter, and made of a material that appeared to have been torn in several places, although Sylvanas knew that it was just the way the dress had been assembled.

"Faith. Sweetheart. I'm not wearing that."

"With leggings and new boots? I bought them for you."

Sylvanas groaned, "You spent money on clothes when –."

"Not Undercity money. My money."

"You shouldn't be spending money on me."

"Of course I should." Faith slid her hand to Sylvanas' tunic, beginning to unfasten it.

"Stop."

"Really? You won't even try for me?"

"I haven't dressed up for anything since before I died, which I'm sure you remember."

"Winter's Veil, I remember."

Sitting on Faith's bed, Sylvanas watched her, "But you can go ahead and get dressed. I don't mind keeping an eye on you while you do that." Her eyes roamed over Faith's body as she began to undress, "What kind of ceremony are they having, anyway?"

"I think they're going to mix traditions, being as they're the first official match since the Cataclysm. They want their ancestors to bless them. It's the only way Ishaka's family will be with her in a way that she'll be able to feel." Faith quickly washed herself, pretending she couldn't feel Sylvanas' eyes on her, then slipped on her dress.

"You are putting on underclothes, are you not?"

"It'll ruin the line of the dress if I do."

"Faith Everstone!" exclaimed Sylvanas, her voice strangled.

"Nobody will know except for you."

"Oh no. I'm not having you without underwear on during the ceremony. I'll end up doing something indecent and scandalizing whatever ancestors arrive." She picked up a pair of Faith's panties and threw them at her, "Wear them."

"You're spoiling my fun."

"We're going back to Undercity tonight. I'll give you plenty of fun when we get there."

Faith's eyes brightened as her ears twitched, "I'll hold you to that."

Giving Sylvanas a kiss on the cheek, Faith left to help Ishaka get ready.

The female tauren was visibly nervous. She was quiet in general, but now, she could barely string a sentence together without stuttering.

"Maybe I… maybe I shouldn't do this…"

Faith smiled at her, helping her into her dress, which had been made from bleached animal hides and embroidered with little beads that Faith had brought from Quel'Thalas, in shades of red, blue, and green. "Nonsense. Of course you should do this. You love Hamu, don't you?"

"I do… of course I do, but… so much has happened. Maybe it's… maybe it's too… too soon."

"If you love him, then you have nothing to fear."

"You thought it was too e-early."

"You both decided to make this happen today. What I think doesn't matter. What matters is what you feel," Faith put her hand over Ishaka's heart, "right there."

Ishaka looked at her… and burst into tears.

Faith put her arms around her, "I'm so sorry, honey," she told her quietly. "I know that your family should be here to celebrate this moment with you. And they are, in a way. They're proud of you, and I know that they were excited about the wedding."

Ishaka cried.

Faith could only hold her until she calmed down, feeling a familiar sorrow coming over her as she thought about the way her own family had died. She saw her mother again, her body all but torn apart by the undead fiends. She saw her brothers killed. Saw her sister dead in the street…

"I'm sorry," she said again, keeping her voice low so that it wouldn't shake.

After a while, Ishaka took a deep breath, stepping away from Faith. "I shouldn't be crying like this," she whispered.

"It's your wedding day. Your family should be here with you, but they're not. It's okay to cry about it, trust me." Faith began to braid Ishaka's hair, weaving festive ribbons through it, "But they're here. Their spirits are in the crackling flames that light up the night. They're in the wind that tickles the grass on the plains. They're in the rays of sunshine that warm your body. The ones who love us never truly leave us, because they live in our hearts. And as long as we remember them, they will always be here."

Ishaka listened to Faith quietly, noticing that Sylvanas was now with them. She seemed to have washed her hair, as it shone a brighter silvery-white than usual. But Faith didn't see her and kept talking in a low voice as she finished Ishaka's preparations.

"There. You're ready," she declared. "Why don't you go see how the food is doing while I check on my brother?"

"Okay. I'll see you later."

"Good. Oh, wait!" Faith quickly caught up to her and murmured a spell to make sure that her dress wouldn't get stained. "There. That way, if anything accidentally falls on you, your dress will remain clean."

Ishaka hugged Faith tightly, "Thank you, my sister," she said.

The moment she was gone, Faith sat down, wiping tears off her cheeks.

Sylvanas came up behind her, holding her, "Hey, it's okay."

"No, it's not. It's not okay that our parents are dead and that they'll never be with us to share special moments alongside us. It's not okay, and I'd like to feel that for a moment."

"Ah, sweetheart, you feel it every day." Sylvanas kissed the back of her ear and helped her get to her feet, "Come here. Today is a day to have fun and celebrate your brother and his life-mate as they embark on a new journey together." She turned Faith around and stared into her eyes, "All right?"

"Yes, General."

Sylvanas chuckled, "I'll break you out of that habit yet, my darling."

Faith smiled a little, taking a look at her lover. "You're wearing the tunic…"

"I thought you'd like it."

"You look beautiful, my love."

"Don't I always?"

A low laugh, "You do." Faith allowed herself the luxury of resting for a moment in Sylvanas' arms before Taisha came to get them.

"Everything's ready," she said. "It's time."

She led them to the small wooded area where the ceremony would be taking place. They normally would have been in the sun, but Hamu had wanted Sylvanas to feel as comfortable as possible, and had given her and the Forsaken seats in the shade. Faith felt this was a good thing, as the sun was really hot that day.

Guests began to take their seats, most of them sitting in the rows in the sun, while a few of them came to sit behind Faith and Sylvanas, who were seated in the front row. They were all chattering excitedly, happy to have something to celebrate after everything that had happened.

Music started to play, and Hamu walked up to the altar, wearing new black trousers and a sleeveless white shirt, along with ceremonial beads. His hair had been woven with red to symbolize the loss of Ishaka's family.

"Your brother looks handsome," said Sylvanas quietly.

Faith nodded not trusting herself to speak. She had always been emotional at weddings. Sylvanas took her hand and squeezed it gently.

"I love you."

"I love you," repeated Faith, looking at her. Leaning over, she kissed her softly.

Ishaka started walking down the aisle, accompanied by Atalo, who looked as emotional as Faith felt. She carried a sparkling bouquet of white wildflowers, which Faith had enchanted for her.

"Oh, look at her," whispered someone. "She looks lovely."

It was true, she  _did_  look lovely. She was smiling, her eyes on Hamu.

"Look at your brother," whispered Sylvanas.

Faith turned her gaze towards Hamu, and burst into giggles. He looked terrified, shaking from horn to hoof, and looked like he was swallowing convulsively. "Calm down," she mouthed to him.

He shook his head quickly, and several people laughed.

Ishaka reached him and took his trembling hand. All at once, the two of them seemed to relax, as though they had been meant to do this all along.

"And so their magic begins," whispered Sylvanas, tightening her grip on Faith's hand.

It began indeed.

A shaman was there, dressed in ceremonial attire, to bind the two of them together forever.

"In this world and the next," he said, "the love that these two share for each other will last until the end of time. It will flow like the rivers and evolve into oceans. It will wash over us like the breeze from the mountains and rejuvenate us. It will burn like a fire that cleanses our souls. And it will be as solid as the highest mountain that grazes the skies."

Faith squeezed her eyes together once, leaning against Sylvanas, who dropped her hand and put an arm around her. In that moment, she was glad she wasn't a living creature. She wasn't sure she would have been able to sit there watching someone else get married if she'd been alive. Not like this.

A black despair washed over her suddenly, and she had to stare at the woman in her arms to remind herself that she still had something to fight for.

"Are you okay?" Faith asked her.

Damn. She hadn't wanted anything to show on her face. She coaxed her features to be impassive again, "Of course."

"You had that look again."

"Everything's all right, my darling."

But she didn't feel all right. Watching Hamu and Ishaka getting married drove home the fact that she couldn't make Faith happy that way.

Now that Arthas was gone, what purpose did she have? Sure, there were still vestiges of the Scourge running around, but they were negligible. And she hadn't even been in that pivotal final battle, too busy piecing her forces back together. Faith had ultimately been the one to strike him down, as she had promised to do.

She had been using Faith as her right arm for so long…

A gentle hand caressed her face briefly, and Sylvanas blinked, moving her gaze back to the ceremony.

"Ishaka," Hamu was saying. "I didn't love you from the beginning, because we met a long time ago. And I can't say that I knew immediately that we were going to end up here today. It took a while for my feelings to turn into what they are now. You became my friend, and our friendship grew until I realized that I either had to take you as my life-mate, or go away forever. You have been through unspeakable pain recently, and I hope that I will be strong enough to help you through whatever else may happen. I promise to give my heart to you from now until after the ancestors take me back. I love you, Ishaka, and I promise that this will never change."

Faith was sniffling quietly, and Sylvanas quickly took a handkerchief out of her pocket, handing it to her.

Ishaka took Hamu's hand and looked into his eyes, "My dear Hamu, I feel like I always knew that we would be together. From the moment I first met you until now, there was never a doubt in my mind that we would end up here. I have always loved you, although I never told you when we were younger because I was scared."

The audience chuckled.

"Oh, how well I know that feeling," whispered Faith, making Sylvanas smile.

"You weren't scared, you were terrified," she said as Ishaka went on.

"I'm still scared now, I guess, but I hope that I can be a good mate for you. I hope that I will be able to comfort you when times are bad, and make you happy when times are good. I promise to be your love, from now until the world ends."

That was the most Ishaka had said in a long time, not being a particularly talkative person. But her words were heartfelt, and everyone teared up when she started to cry.

The shaman began to speak, "Hamu and Ishaka have declared their love to all of us present and to the ancestors listening in," he waved his arm, and Faith could swear that she saw ghostly shadows in the shape of deceased tauren not far from where they sat. "Their words have touched us all, and by the power invested in me by the Earth Mother, I now pronounce them life-mates."

Grinning now, Hamu leaned over to kiss Ishaka softly, which was greeted with thunderous applause and the throwing of flower petals. Faith murmured something so that ice crystals burst in the air, showering everyone with sparkling snow that evaporated as soon as it hit the ground.

Atalo and Taisha rushed forward to embrace their son, and Faith did the same, hugging Ishaka first.

"You did it," she said.

"I can't believe it just happened…"

"You're both going to be so happy together. But you have to let me know if he gets out of line so that I can come over and box his ears for you."

"Hey!" Hamu went up to her and hugged her so tightly he lifted her off the ground and took her breath away. "You don't need to box my ears!"

"Sure I do. I'm your sister!" She smiled, "I'm really happy for you, you know."

Hamu nuzzled her hair once, "I know. I love you, my sister."

"I love you, too."

He and Ishaka walked back down the makeshift aisle together, accepting congratulations from everybody. More flower petals were thrown and horns were sounded to announce the beginning of what promised to be a long and joyful party.

"Thank you for being here with me," Faith told Sylvanas as they followed the crowd. "I know you'd much rather be in Undercity."

"I would much rather be anywhere you are," replied Sylvanas, although Faith was absolutely correct in her statement.

"You hate parties. Even when you were alive, you weren't a big fan of them."

That was true enough. "Except that I can remember a few instances where I had a lot of fun at parties."

"Name one."

"Every party you attended with me."

"That's the answer you're supposed to give when you want to get between my legs."

"Oh, you know I want to do that," chuckled Sylvanas.

Faith giggled and led Sylvanas to the table they had been assigned to, which was under a floating canopy of leaves to keep everything out of the baking sun.

"You decorated these," said Sylvanas. Each table, made of roughly hewn wood and covered in soft green moss, had, at their center, decorations representing all of the elements. A small black, white, and red fire suspended in midair, surrounded by glittering sand, with water flowing beneath it in a fluid circle, all of which danced merrily around a bare tree branch that seemed to have sprouted from the table itself.

"It's just a bit of magic," said Faith modestly.

"It's pretty. I love seeing your decorative magic."

"Instead of the magic where I burn enemies alive?"

"I like seeing that too, to be honest."

"Bloodthirsty fiend," whispered Faith, kissing her.

They sat down, and food began to arrive right away. Roasted meat that fell off the bone in juicy chunks, hearty mashed potatoes with a succulent gravy, various pies and cakes, including an enormous wedding cake made of what appeared to be snow.

"How in the world did you manage to get a cake from Silvermoon's best bakery?" Sylvanas asked Faith, recognizing the frosted decorations that adorned the dessert.

"Ah, well… let's just say that the head baker owed me a favor."

"What kind of favor?"

"When Silvermoon fell, I grabbed a little girl and took her on the boat with me. As it turns out, it was his daughter. He had lost her in the panic." She said this quickly, not wanting to dwell long on the memory.

Sylvanas put a hand on her knee, substituting her ale for water, "Even then, you took care of others before taking care of yourself."

Faith kept her eye on the mug of ale, which Sylvanas had put out of her reach. She arched an eyebrow.

Sylvanas just looked at her, not needing to say anything. Both of them knew that Faith didn't mix well with too much alcohol. After a while, she got to her feet, "Come on, we should go get their present."

The present, which was tethered in the nearby stables, was a baby kodo with a very unusual chocolate brown coloring and kind eyes. Hamu had always wanted a kodo of his own, but he'd always had to make do with Atalo's old animal.

The young creature was weary of Sylvanas, but nuzzled Faith's hand happily, "Come on, little guy. My brother and new sister will take very good care of you."

They put it on a strong leash, and led it towards where everybody was assembled. Hamu and Ishaka had just gotten up to open presents. Hamu saw them coming, and went very still.

"You didn't," he said quietly.

"Oh, but we did," answered Faith with a smile. "It's not just from me, mind you. Consider it a gift from Undercity."

"It's so cute!" exclaimed Ishaka.

"Thank you. Thank you both," said Hamu. He seemed stunned, and knelt in front of the small creature that was already too heavy to be picked up, and stroked its body gently. A few moments later, he was hugging both Faith and Sylvanas together. "Thank you, my sisters."

Sisters. The comment, meant to be a compliment, stung Sylvanas to the core. At a loss for words, she simply nodded, and pulled Faith away so that the newlyweds could get on with opening their presents.

"I'm going to go."

"What do you mean?" Faith asked her.

"Just what I said. Don't come home too late, okay?"

"Sylvanas." Faith looked worried, "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, I promise."

"No, you're not." Faith put her hands on both sides of Sylvanas' face, "Please talk to me. Tell me what's wrong with you."

"There's nothing wrong. Let me go say goodbye to Atalo and Taisha, then, if you wouldn't mind making a portal for me?"

She left her there for a few minutes while she said her goodbyes.  By the time she returned, Faith had created a glowing portal back to Undercity. "Do you want me to come with you?"

"No, you can stay until the party ends. I'll see you later."

"Sylvanas, you're scaring me."

"You don't have to be scared, baby. Everything is all right." She stepped into the portal and disappeared, leaving Faith to stare at the area where she had been.


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Note**  – I have taken some more liberties with this chapter. But I kind of like the way it turned out!

* * *

Sylvanas wouldn't have been able to put her feelings into words, even if she'd tried. Faith herself might not have been able to understand what she was going through. Then again, Faith understood just about everything about her, so maybe she would have understood this. But Sylvanas didn't want to bother her lover with whatever she felt at that moment.

Seeing Hamu and Ishaka getting married, seeing them so happy, and then seeing the look on Faith's face… it had broken whatever was left of her heart.

She couldn't give Faith that same happiness. She couldn't begin to attempt anything like that. Oh, sure, Faith would act happy, but Sylvanas was well aware that the love of her life hadn't truly been happy since her world had collapsed.

"She doesn't deserve it," she said to the empty throne room. "She doesn't deserve to be this miserable."

What did Faith deserve?

Light. A real life with someone who could love her and take care of her. Someone who could make her be herself again. Who could make her feel what joy was.

But Faith wouldn't try to do anything about her situation, not as long as Sylvanas was still around. She would keep herself bound to an old promise, the promise to be with her no matter what.

"I can't let her do that. I've been too selfish when it comes to her. She'd be better off if I were to just…"

Die.

That was what she needed to do. Arthas was dead now. She didn't have a reason to stay tethered to this shell anymore.

 _What about Faith_?

Faith would be fine. It would take her some time to get over the shock, she was sure, but she would eventually be okay. She had people who cared about her, and who would take care of her once she was gone.

"It's time for you to hold up the promise that you made to me before Arthas killed me," she whispered.

She went to her chambers, but there wasn't much to do there. She had already put a lot of her affairs in order before going to Thunder Bluff, so that she wouldn't have much left to do when she got back. She merely changed her clothes, taking off the tunic, leggings, and boots that Faith had gotten for her.

Rotvine was waiting for her by the time she returned to the throne room.

"How was the wedding?"

"They were happy, so I guess that's all that matters."

He looked at her, "Are you leaving again?" he asked her.

"Yes. There's something I need to do, but it won't take long."

He accepted this, "All right. It's just that Garrosh Hellscream is on his way here. He should arrive tomorrow by boat. He heard about the Greymane Wall having been breached by the Cataclysm, and I think he wants to do something about it."

Gilneas. Of course Garrosh would want to do something about it as quickly as possible.

"He's insufferable. Does he think that I can't protect my own lands against the wolves?"

"I'm sure we can deal with it until you return, my lady."

"You can. Faith will be home soon, and she'll be able to handle it with you."

Rotvine nodded, confident that everything would turn out all right. "Well then, safe journey, Lady Sylvanas."

"Thank you, Carrick. For everything." She left, taking the hidden passages within the city in order to get outside. Once she was away from the ruins of Lordaeron, she used a little potion to hide her appearance, and slowly made her way towards the zeppelin towers.

Two hours later, Faith appeared in the Undercity throne room, a bit of a glow on her face. It had been a good day, a good party, and now all she wanted to do was snuggle with Sylvanas for a bit until she fell asleep.

"Lady Faith," said Rotvine, spotting her, "you're back."

"Hi, Carrick. Yes, I'm back." Faith accepted his bony hug and smiled even more, "Is Sylvanas around?"

"No. She said she had something to take care of, but that it wouldn't take long."

"Really? She didn't say anything to me about it."

"Maybe she means for it to be a surprise for you."

"Maybe." But Faith wasn't convinced. Sylvanas  _was_  apt to surprise her with gifts every once in a while, but there was absolutely no reason for it now. Disappointed, she listened to Rotvine tell her about Garrosh's imminent arrival. "And Sylvanas wants me to deal with him? He's coming here for her, he doesn't want to deal with the likes of me. He hates me, remember?"

"I don't think he holds our queen in very high regard either, to be honest."

"All the more reason for her to be here to greet him instead of me." Momentary anger flashed through her, but was quickly replaced by weariness. "Do I have time to get some sleep before he arrives?"

"Certainly. He should be here by tomorrow morning, at around nine o'clock."

"Oh, I'll be up before that, don't worry. Thanks, Carrick."

"You're welcome. You know, she said the same thing to me before she left. She's never called me by my first name before."

"She can be unpredictable," Faith told him, but she was frowning. She went to the room she shared with Sylvanas, noting that the new clothes were neatly folded and that the bed was turned down for her.

"Where are you, Sylvanas?" she asked, feeling like something horrible was about to happen.

When she woke up the following day, she was still alone, although she could hear Rotvine knocking on her door. Quickly, she got up, washed and got dressed just in time to welcome the warchief of the Horde to Undercity.

"Where is your undead queen?" he asked her without even bothering to greet her.

"I haven't the faintest idea, Warchief. But I'm sure she'll join us soon."

"Faith is in charge while she's gone," said Rotvine.

Garrosh rolled his eyes, "This is going to be a disaster, but fine. We're attacking Gilneas."

"We are?" asked Faith, completely surprised by this.

"Yes. I want Undercity's forces to be the vanguard of this attack. Orgrimmar's forces will back you up."

"You want to attack Gilneas head-on?"

"They're weakened by the Cataclysm. Now is the best time to attack, and they won't expect us."

Faith and Rotvine exchanged a look, knowing that they couldn't argue against Garrosh, as he could easily execute them and put someone else in charge of the whole operation. "Carrick, please get the First Magi Corps ready for battle."

"I don't want the mages, I want the warriors!" snarled Garrosh.

Rotvine was about to protest when Faith raised a hand to quiet him, "As you wish. Will the War Battalion be more suitable?"

"I should say so, yes."

It took a lot for Faith not to wince. Sylvanas would have her head for using her prized battalion in this kind of campaign, but she really couldn't do anything about it. She sent Rotvine to get them ready.

"How many soldiers are in that battalion?"

"A little over nine hundred, Warchief."

"That's all?"

Faith didn't bother telling him that the Wrathgate disaster had cost Sylvanas most of her forces. "We're still rebuilding," she said quietly. "Are you sure you don't want the Magi Corps?"

He glared at her.

 _Your funeral_ , she thought.  _Or more to the point, our funeral, because we'll be the ones getting slaughtered out there._

She knew that he didn't care about Forsaken losses. He wouldn't even ask his shaman to heal the soldiers who would get injured in the field. As she got herself ready to leave for the battlefield, she instructed Rotvine to dispatch several priests with the battalion, as a backup. She didn't want Sylvanas to return from wherever she was only to find that most of her soldiers were truly dead.

As night began to fall, Faith and Rotvine left Undercity with Garrosh and his forces, along with half of the Forsaken soldiers who were able to battle. In Faith's opinion, it wasn't a strong-looking army, they were still reeling from everything that had happened in Northrend. She doubted that they would be able to do anything in Gilneas, besides maybe fill two-thousand coffins for the Horde.

"Couldn't we try to annex them peacefully?" asked Master Apothecary Lydon, who was riding just behind Faith and Lady. "The worgen could be a good addition to the Horde."

Faith turned her head to look at him, "Look at me straight in the eye and ask me that again, Lydon. Please. Do I want the wolves in the Horde? Do I want to work with them after they turned their backs on us while the Scourge decimated Lordaeron? Go ahead and ask, Lydon."

"Aren't you taking this a little personally?" asked an orc next to Garrosh. "They were dealing with their own curse, weren't they?"

"Not until later," she snapped.

"Perhaps you will be able to get some revenge on them today," said Garrosh, sounding highly amused by the conversation.

"I got my revenge when I killed Arthas," said Faith. "Although, of course, I'd love to pay the worgen back in kind for their hospitality."

It was drizzling by the time they reached Silverpine Forest, which became a downpour when they got to the Sepulcher, where they stopped for a rest.

"Is that all you have for shelter?" asked Garrosh.

"Kind of hard to build lodgings for so many living people in a few hours, Warchief. But if you give me a little while, I'll be able to knock something up for you."

Twenty minutes later, she had made a huge canopy by using branches, leaves, and the grass that grew around the Sepulcher. The shaman who were with her drained the area so that the ground would be relatively dry and comfortable for the living. Despite all of this, she could tell that the soldiers were unhappy with their accommodations, despite them being used to much harsher conditions. Nobody complained, though.

The rain tapered off sometime in the night, but began anew when they started off again the following morning.

"You would think that the rain would clear the air a little," said someone, running his hand over his nose.

"If you think this is bad," commented Faith, "I suggest you go take a stroll through the Plaguelands when this is over. Although I would highly suggest you bring some Essence of Peacebloom with you to keep from choking on the air."

"I don't know how anybody living can stand to stay here for an extended period of time."

"Oh, please, she screws the banshee. She's used to the smell."

In an instant, Faith had whirled around and caught the orc who had uttered this latest sentence in an arcane grip that lifted him right off his wolf.

"You  _will_  learn some respect, orc!" she cried. Magic flew from her fingers to wind itself in blue tentacles around the orc's neck.

"Let him go, Major," ordered Garrosh. "Now. He was only joking around."

Faith kept him suspended for another few seconds before releasing him. With a cry, he crashed back onto his waiting wolf, who crumpled beneath him.

"Be careful!" roared the warchief.

"I will not let anybody insult Lady Sylvanas Windrunner on her own lands." She turned to Garrosh, "You came here requesting our help, Warchief, so here we are. But you need to teach your soldiers some manners. We are going off to war, not on vacation."

Without waiting for him to say anything else, she urged Lady forward. The Forsaken soldiers followed her without a word, although some of them glared at the offending orc as they passed.

It took them several more hours to reach the Greymane Wall. It had indeed been badly damaged by the Cataclysm, and now stood partially open, seemingly stuck because of some large boulders that were keeping the doors from closing.

"Even with that opening, it won't be easy to get inside," said Faith to Rotvine. "Honestly, they could pick us off one by one without losing a single soldier."

Rotvine nodded, "This is where the Corps would have been helpful."

"Amongst other things. An assault by sea would be the best course of action, not only by land." She glanced at where Garrosh was standing with some members of his entourage, "But since we're here, we might as well do what we can. How many spellcasters have we got?"

"Including the orc shaman?"

"The only orc shaman I trust is Thrall."

"Right. So if we don't include them… we have forty spellcasters. I couldn't bring more under such short notice."

Forty spellcasters. They wouldn't get very far with them, although they had beaten Arthas with less. Faith looked at the wall just in time to see a shadow disappear from the top of it. "We've been spotted," she said clearly enough for Garrosh to hear her.

"So kill the creature!" roared the warchief.

"I can't, it's already gone. I only saw it when it passed under one of those torches as it was leaving," she pointed to the area the worgen had been standing in. "We'd better get into formation. I have a feeling they were expecting an attack to come from here."

Faith wasn't wrong. It only took five minutes for the sound of an alarm to reach their ears.

"Here we go," said Faith. "They're coming."

"Kill them the moment they come out of those gates!" cried Garrosh.

 _Him screaming at us isn't going to help_ , thought Faith as she squinted to catch a glimpse of the worgen. It was getting darker, and the rain was falling in icy sheets. She doubted that even the worgen or the Forsaken could see much in that weather.

The attack came from behind them, as a group of worgen jumped their rear lines. Faith turned around and ran, crying out an arcane spell, because the rain was falling too hard for her fire spells to have any effect on the battle.

Magic crackled around her, blue tendrils jumping from her fingers and onto the nearest wolf, who gave a howl when he felt himself being lifted off the ground. He crashed hard on another worgen, whose neck was instantly broken by the force of drop.

Something jumped onto her back, and she felt a worgen's hot breath onto her neck, seconds before the creature tried to literally bite her head off. Memories of Fangore surfaced, and she shrieked, raising her hand and calling out a spell.

Faith's hand was enveloped in frost, which hit the worgen's snout, covering it in ice crystals and effectively freezing his mouth and nose shut. He released her immediately and started batting at the ice.

Gasping for breath, Faith turned to face him, and renewed her spell, now encasing the worgen's entire head with ice. He clawed at it, leaving deep gouges in the ice, but even as he finally managed to free his nose to breathe, Faith drove her spellblade into his chest, murmuring another spell, which froze him from within.

 _This is wrong_ , she thought.  _We shouldn't be doing this now._

Rain was falling harder than before, and the flashes of lightning allowed her to see the battle raging before her. Most of the Forsaken were engaged, along with a few orcs who hadn't waited for Garrosh to sound his war horn.

Several worgen lay dead around her, but many Forsaken too, those who had been taken by surprise.

A huge worgen, its fur the color of wet sand, suddenly leapt further than she would have believed possible, landing only feet from Garrosh.

Garrosh was barely turning his head when Faith raised both hands, the spell flying from her lips as she sprinted. A cloud of crackling magic swirled around the worgen, stalling him. The Warchief of the Horde raised Gorehowl and cleanly sliced off the wolf's head, which came to rest at Faith's feet.

"It seems like you're not completely worthless after all," Garrosh told her, sparing her a glance.

"Faith!"

The cry jolted Faith to her core. Sylvanas. Sylvanas was calling her. The scream was –.

"No!" she screamed. "SYLVANAS!"

It was as though a wall of ice had descended over her, washing over her very soul. Her knees gave out from under her, and had Garrosh not extended an arm to catch her, she would have fallen. She clutched at her heart, screaming out Sylvanas' name. Around her, more than half of the Forsaken looked stunned, and several of the worgen used that to their advantage, dismembering them where they stood.

Rotvine ran to her, helping her to stand.

"She's dead…" cried Faith, tears falling from her eyes. "By the Sunwell, Carrick… Sylvanas is dead! She's really dead!"

"I know…" he pulled her to him, which was less than pleasant, and held her. "I know…"

Garrosh wrenched Faith away from Rotvine, "What in Hellscream's name are you babbling about? What do you mean she's dead?"

Faith let herself sink to the muddy ground. She couldn't think. Couldn't breathe. It was Quel'Thalas all over again… it couldn't have happened.

She had been so sad lately…

"Carrick,  _where did she go_?"

"I… I don't know, Faith, she didn't tell me."

Faith's mind seemed to slip, and for a moment, she saw Icecrown Citadel, standing tall in the frozen wastes of Northrend.

Sylvanas…

"She's dead…"

"What?" Garrosh forcibly pulled her to her feet and shook her, "What did you say?"

"Sylvanas is dead…"

Sylvanas was gone. Dead. The thought came clearly to her, momentarily tearing her sanity to shreds.

She was dead.

"Pull yourself together, Major!" Garrosh threw her to the ground as easily as if she had been a rag doll, and Rotvine helped her get to her feet again, with Lydon by her side. "We have a war to win."

A war? Faith didn't care anymore. She didn't care that they were losing. Sylvanas was dead. She was gone. There was nothing left anymore, nothing…

Thousands of miles away, at the foot of Icecrown Citadel, the prone form of Lady Sylvanas Windrunner, former ranger-general of Silvermoon, stirred beneath the snow.

When she had fallen, she had impaled herself on one of the saronite spikes that adorned the ground, knowing that it was the only way she could truly kill herself.

But as she had reached the ground, the screaming Val'kyr had thrown an image at her, a clear image of Faith losing her life without her. She had screamed her name.

Slowly, she pulled her body away from the spike, needing to do so in stages because of the excruciating pain she felt every time she moved. It took some time, but finally, she managed it, amazed at how the magics that bound her to the Val'kyr were healing her.

Her bow, miraculously, lay in the snow at her feet, unharmed somehow. Her quiver was also there, with only three arrows in it, but it was more than she could have hoped for.

"Faith…" she said, her voice stolen by the icy winds.

Part of her was still aghast at what she had seen, during her few moments of true death. But she couldn't think about that. Couldn't think about the neverending darkness. And…

Arthas.

_I never thought about those I would leave behind. I was certain that Faith would be okay, because she's alive, and it's a luxury I didn't have…_

She couldn't think about that. She knew that Faith was in trouble, that she was fighting in Gilneas.

What in the world was she doing there?

And how could she feel that? She could feel Faith's complete sorrow. Her heart, now twice dead, was breaking over it. Again.

"We can help you get home faster," said one of the Val'kyr now floating in front of her. They were beautiful, she could see that now. She saw the world with new eyes, the eyes of the second death, which allowed her to see more or the world, somehow.

"How can you do that?" Sylvanas asked her.

"Easily. Your lover's magic is all over you. We can tap into it and take you back to your Undercity, and we shall travel with you."

"You're going to tap into the magic that Faith has left on me? Even after all of," she gestured towards Icecrown Citadel, "that?"

"Magic does not fade away, even when left on a dead subject. It is all around you, it is within you, and we can use it. Close your eyes, and think of home."

She did so, trying to fill her mind with images of the Undercity. A few seconds later, she felt a strong push at the center of her back, as though someone had shoved her forward. She staggered, landing on her knees.

The wind was gone, replaced instead with the familiar reek of her undead home. They had made it. She had no idea how, but they had managed to travel from Icecrown to Undercity in the blink of an eye.

Several guards saw her and cried out in shock.

"Lady Sylvanas! You… what…"

She waved them aside, "I must get to Gilneas. Is the fighting still going on?"

"They're at the Greymane Wall, as far as we heard."

"Good. I will go to them."

Moving faster than she ever had in her life or undeath, she made her way to the stables, where Venom greeted her with an eerie neigh.

"How quickly do you think we can get to Gilneas?" she asked the warriors hovering next to her.

"Faster than usual, if the eight of us travel with you."

"Then let's go. We have a long ride ahead of us." She climbed onto her horse, and didn't even need to nudge him before he broke into a fast run.

_Hang on, Faith. I'm coming._

* * *

**Author’s Note – part 2** – Before you move on to chapter 14, I highly suggest that you read the short story To The Edge of Night.  It details what Sylvanas went through in this chapter.

Happy reading!

Lunarelle


	14. Chapter 14

Rain whipped at her face as she rode Venom at breakneck speed, trying to get to the Greymane Wall before something horrible happened.

Flashes of what she had seen in the eternal darkness kept coming back to her in waves, threatening to choke her.

Undercity being burned to the ground, with the Alliance executing the Forsaken who had once been human. Faith, trying to defend them, being executed in the throne room.

Burned alive.

She couldn't stand the thought of it. It bore a striking resemblance to something Arthas had shown her in those first few days after the fall of Quel'Thalas, where she had seen Faith dying in a thousand ways.

The Val'kyr had told her that she would be stuck in there for all eternity, reliving the worst possible things, whether real or not, over and over again. She would become the torturer. Faith's torturer.

She would never let that happen, not to Faith.

There weren't many Forsaken guards out on the main road in Silverpine Forest. Sylvanas assumed that they had followed Faith into battle, rather than risk Garrosh's wrath.

The Val'kyr flew behind her, keeping pace with her and not saying anything. She felt connected to them in a way she wasn't connected to anybody.

She loved them.

"Is that it?" asked Agatha after they had ridden for almost an hour.

"Yes."

She crested a hill and stopped Venom in his tracks. Anybody else would have been unseated, but Sylvanas didn't even shift in the saddle.

Battle raged everywhere she looked. Forsaken lay in pieces, scattered over the ground, as though some bizarre ritual had taken place. Several orcs lay dead, but it was obvious that the undead were bearing the brunt of this attack. Dead worgen also littered the area, and Sylvanas felt proud that her forces had managed to do that, at least.

Her eyes focused on a form that was slowly rising from the ground, wiping mud, blood, and rain from her face.

Faith.

"Heroes of the Forsaken!" called Garrosh, sitting atop his huge wolf. "You are the point of my spear! The honor will be yours when you raise the Horde banners upon that wall! Charge!"

" _Belay that order_!" shrieked Sylvanas, her voice echoing over the entire battlefield.

Faith turned her head slowly. Her mouth dropped open.

"Sylvanas?" she asked the rain. She blinked, her tears mixing with the downpour. She took a step forward and stumbled, but didn't fall.

Sylvanas urged Venom into a gallop again. The hood of her cloak flew off her head, and her hair streamed behind her, its color a more brilliant bone-white than before.

She reached Faith, just as Garrosh backhanded her across the face, sending her to the ground again.

"You said she was dead!" he bellowed.

"She… I… I had a horrible feeling that something had happened… I felt… I felt her die…"

Outraged, Sylvanas leapt off of Venom. "What do you think you're doing?" she spat at the warchief.

"Teaching  _her_  a lesson. Lying to the warchief of the Horde is a serious offense."

"She wasn't lying," said Rotvine, who was now helping Faith get back to her feet. "Sylvanas might not have been the one to raise me, but I felt her die too. All of us did. What did you  _do_ , my Lady?"

"That doesn't matter. I'm here now." Her voice had an intensity that it had never had before. She looked at Faith, surprised when the elf took a couple of steps back.

"How did you die, Sylvanas? What happened? Did someone kill you? How?"

Sylvanas opened her mouth, meaning to say something, but couldn't.

"Answer me!" cried Faith.

"Come here."

But Faith didn't come any closer to her. "What happened?" she asked, her voice shaking. "Was it the Scourge?"

"No, Faith. The Scourge… they didn't affect my decision. Not this time."

"Your… decision?" Faith blinked, her hand rising to her mouth. All at once, she was sick, vomit spraying between her fingers and hitting Garrosh's wolf. Her world went gray, and for a second, she felt herself falling again.

Sylvanas caught her, having dismounted with amazing speed, "Faith –."

"Don't touch me…" she whispered, roughly pushing herself away from her lover. "Your decision… you decided to die."

Her gaze turned to a point behind Sylvanas' head, and she uttered a cry of rage. A spell flew from her lips, and probably would have hit the Val'kyr had Sylvanas not leapt towards her and grabbed her hands.

"Stop, stop, they won't hurt you, Faith!"

"In the name of the  _sun_ , Sylvanas, what in the world were you thinking, bringing those fiends here?"

"They saved my life."

"I don't care! They're Scourge!" She forcefully disengaged herself from Sylvanas, "You went to Icecrown to die, didn't you? You did that without any consideration for us."

"Faith –."

"No! I don't want to hear it!"

Garrosh chuckled, "It seems as though you have a lot of explaining to do, Sylvanas."

Sylvanas turned to him, but he wasn't looking at her.

"You must be crazier than any of us thought, bringing the Scourge back into these lands."

"They are the ones who will help us take Gilneas. Because we  _will_  take Gilneas, mark my words. But we will do it my way, Warchief, not yours."

Faith was staring at the Val'kyr. So many emotions were coursing through her that she couldn't separate them all. She felt broken. Unsure of anything. Sylvanas had killed herself, but was still alive somehow. She had committed suicide, but for some reason, she was back.

She had committed suicide.

Feeling unbalanced, Faith staggered towards where Lady was tethered with the other mounts. The hawkstrider cried out a warning, but Faith had already felt the worgen woman's presence. Using a spell she had never thought of before, she severed the wolf's head from her shoulders. She stared at the twitching body for a moment before untying Lady and climbing on her back.

"Faith!" cried Sylvanas, grabbing Lady's reins, "Where are you going?"

"Leaving. I can't be here now. You… you don't even understand what you've  _done_!"

"I know what I did, I was there. And you can't leave in the middle of a battle."

"Watch me."

"I will shoot your mount out from under you if you dare to leave this area, Faith."

"You would kill my hawkstrider?"

"I would."

Lady gave a cry, and snapped at Sylvanas' hand. The banshee didn't flinch.

"Do not move. We'll all be out of here in under an hour." She turned back towards Garrosh, "I am taking my troops back to Undercity. Attacking Gilneas like this is suicide, and you know it. What are you trying to do, deplete my forces to the last man?"

"You should all be eradicated."

"You wouldn't dare. You enjoy having the Horde in Lordaeron too much. Without us, the Scourge would take over Quel'Thalas again, and then where would you be? You'd have no Horde presence in the Eastern Kingdoms."

Sylvanas was right, and Garrosh knew it. Gritting his teeth, he glared at her. She had a dark look in her eyes that seemed infinite and terrifying, yet the warchief of the Horde didn't seem intimidated, "Tread carefully,  _Sylvanas_ ," he said. "Someday, what you have done will come back to haunt you."

The Banshee Queen said nothing, merely looking around at the corpses of her people strewn about the battleground. After a while, she glanced at Faith, who sighed and raised her hand, crying out a spell that was echoed by the few mages who were with them. The people still fighting were suddenly separated by an arcane wall that crackled like lightning and emitted some kind of cold heat.

"Fall back!" screamed Sylvanas, causing Faith to wince. "Pull back to the Sepulcher,  _now_!"

The worgen began to attack the arcane wall, but were unable to go through it. The few that did found their fingers seared right off their bodies.

All in all, everyone made a clean getaway, although they weren't able to recover all of the fallen combatants. The soldiers on foot ran ahead while the ones on mounts, including Faith, Sylvanas, and Garrosh stayed in the back to oversee the retreat.

"How many did we lose?" Sylvanas asked Faith.

Faith didn't answer, so Rotvine did it for her.

"About four hundred, your Majesty."

"That's quite a number. Thank you, Warchief, I was just thinking I had too many troops available." She was furious. Furious that the Forsaken had followed this impetuous warchief to what could have been their doom, furious that she had experienced what she had in Icecrown, and even more furious at the way Faith was acting.

Garrosh pretended he hadn't heard her, and rode ahead, preferring the company of his orcs to the stink of the undead.

"Faith," said Sylvanas.

But Faith moved Lady away from her until she was several feet behind everyone, riding alone. Tears coursed down her cheeks. Tears of anger and betrayal. How could Sylvanas have done this to her?

_You killed yourself. You left me willingly! You said that you loved me, and you left me. Why did you come back?_

She could feel a bruise forming where Garrosh had hit her face. Her body hurt from the battle, and her mind kept going over the spell she had used to decapitate the worgen. She had done that out of anger. She hadn't even used magic like that on Arthas, and the Sunwell knew she had wanted him dead.

_Now you're making me use magic that would be more at home with the warlocks of the Burning Legion…_

Sylvanas slowed down Venom until she was level with Faith.

"Talk to me," she said.

"There's nothing for me to say,  _your Majesty_. You killed yourself. I don't know how you came back, nor do I give a damn. But from this point on, that's it. I'm done."

"No you're not. You love me too much."

"That's the whole problem, isn't it? I love you, but that wasn't enough to keep you here. You know what, just leave. Go back to Icecrown, and take your new flying bitches with you. I have nothing more to say to you."

She gave Lady a harder nudge than she meant to, and the hawkstrider took off like a shot in the dark, racing past the column of soldiers and leaving Sylvanas by herself.

"Stop her," she told Rotvine.

"With all due respect, your Majesty, I won't. None of us understand what happened to you, but we all felt you die, Faith most of all, although I have no idea how that happened."

"I couldn't stay," she said simply.

"I get it, all right, I'm dead too. But Faith? Faith will never understand why you killed yourself and left her behind."

"I could hardly take her with me. And I'm back."

Rotvine gave a nod, "You are, yes. But I can only guess what Faith went through when she felt your death. Don't you remember what it was like for her the first time you died? It wasn't your fault then, but this time? This time you did it on your own."

"So she's going to punish me for ending my life."

"That and… your Majesty, we spent months fighting the Val'kyr in Icecrown. What were you thinking bringing them back here?"

"They have the power to bring the dead back to life."

"Yes… that's why we were killing them."

"They saved me when I died. They're bound to me now, and I'm bound to them. Anybody they raise will fight for me."

"So you're saying that they will create new Forsaken for you."

"Yes."

Rotvine made a sound of assent, "All right. But you really think that Faith won't have a huge problem with that? Sylvanas, she'll leave you."

"She won't leave me." She was very confident about that. Faith was angry at that moment, it was understandable, but she would get over it.

She had to.

The clouds over Silverpine Forest were starting to disperse, and the few birds who hadn't taken wing long ago began to sing again, although timidly. A chilly breeze blew through the land, as though attempting to dry it, but it did no good.

Shivering, Faith rode ahead, keeping Lady at a walk now. The golden creature was soaked, something she absolutely hated, and Faith gently ran a hand over her feathers, murmuring a spell to dry her. For herself, she did nothing, not even attempting to find a priest to help her with her injuries.

Her left eye was swelling shut. It was painful, but at that moment, she couldn't have cared less.

_Suicide, suicide, suicide._

It was like a mantra. Or a piece of cheesy music impossible to cast from one's thoughts.

_You committed suicide, you felt that you had nothing to hide, it didn't matter how often I cried, and how much I needed you by my side._

She was thinking poetry now. Disgusted with herself, she shook her head as she heard the unmistakable stride of a skeletal horse. She didn't need to turn her head to know that it was Sylvanas.

"Eventually, you're going to have to talk to me," she called out.

"And eventually, you'll have to understand me when I tell you to  _leave me alone_ ," said Faith. She raised her hand, " _Destana_!" she cried.

Jets of arcane light flew from her fingers, twirling themselves around Sylvanas and keeping her where she was. Faith used that time to kick Lady into a run, wanting to put as much distance as she could between herself and the banshee queen of the Forsaken.

The Sepulcher rose out of the mist just as the sun began to rise on the horizon. To the living, it was nothing more than a graveyard, but to the Forsaken, it was part of home.

Faith was the first one there, and warned the few soldiers there that the warchief and Sylvanas were on their way. By the time the rest of the troops arrived, Faith had stabled and fed Lady, and had crawled into a random bed, putting up a magical barrier around herself.

She dreamt.

She saw a living Sylvanas standing at the Frozen Throne, with Arthas before her as he impaled her with Frostmourne. Sylvanas turned into a banshee before her eyes, leaping off of Icecrown Citadel only to be devoured by carrion birds and turned into a mindless walking skeleton.

The nightmare changed, turning into what had once been the beautiful city of Silvermoon, overrun by the Scourge. She saw Arthas flinging Sylvanas' dead body at her, and she began to scream.

Her eyes opened. Gasping for air, Faith sat up, noting that Sylvanas was standing as close to the barrier as she could.

"Let me hold you," whispered Sylvanas.

"Never again," hissed Faith. Getting to her feet, she pulled her clothes back on, and, removing the barrier, strode out of the tent.

Sylvanas followed her, grabbing her hand. "I get that you're angry."

"No!" shrieked Faith, wrenching her hand away. "You have no idea! You don't know  _anything_!" She ran to the stables, quickly creating a portal and sending herself and Lady through it before Sylvanas could reach her again.

Sobs spilled from her throat as they landed in Undercity's courtyard, and for a moment, all she could do was sink to the floor and cry. Lady, bewildered, nuzzled her, making soft noises as she tried to comfort her.

When she finally got to her chamber, a couple of hours had passed. She locked the door tightly behind her, using spells as well, as she knew that Sylvanas would go straight to her as soon as she got back.

She washed the signs of battle from her body, still hiccupping, but didn't bother with getting healed.

Hours seemed to pass where she couldn't tell what was happening around her. She got dressed and just sat on the floor, vaguely hearing guards speaking in an incomprehensible language. Someone might have knocked on her door, but she couldn't be sure. Was she hungry? She didn't know. Moments of her life flashed before her, as though she were looking at pictures of various moments.

A day fishing with Sylvanas and her father.

The day they had tried to go on the hunt.

A random Winter's Veil spent alone.

Their first kiss.

Sylvanas' death.

Her rebirth.

The door to her chamber crashed open and shattered against the wall, sending bits of wood flying in every possible direction. Sylvanas entered the room and picked Faith up, surprised by how stiff she felt in her arms. Next to her, Rotvine looked as guilty as he could, which admittedly wasn't all that guilty.

"She wouldn't want you to touch her."

"I don't think Faith is in possession of all her faculties right now," Sylvanas told him through clenched teeth as she carried her to her own chamber.

"No. She looks like she's in shock. But if she snaps out of it and sees you, she might lose her mind."

Sylvanas closed her eyes briefly and slapped Faith across the face once. A second time.

Faith blinked. Saw her. Her eyes grew wide and she cried out, trying to back away, but was stopped by the wall behind her.

"Leave us, Rotvine," said Sylvanas.

"Not a chance, my Lady."

" _Now_. What do you think I'm going to do, kill her?  _Go_."

"Get  _away_  from me, you hag!" screamed Faith, trying to hit Sylvanas' face.

The queen of the Forsaken took a hard look at her, fending off her blows, "That's new. What happened to you loving me?"

"You're not her."

"Her. You mean the Sylvanas you originally fell in love with? No, I don't suppose I am."

"You're dead."

Patiently. "Yes."

"Why?"

"Arthas killed me, you know that."

"No, not… now. Why are you dead now?"

"Because I thought that's what was best for everyone." Sylvanas got off the bed and went to close the door. When she turned around again, Faith was standing very close to her. The next moment, she had slapped her with all the strength in her body, the sound echoing across the room. Sylvanas staggered back, momentarily stunned.

"You killed yourself. You fucking  _bitch_ , how could you? How could you do this to me? I've been through  _hell_  for you! I have done things that I never thought myself capable of because of you! I've killed thousands of people and creatures  _in your name_! I loved you with every fiber of my being! And you repay my love with  _suicide_?"

Faith's voice was high-pitched, each sentence she screamed punctuated by a hard blow to Sylvanas' body.

Finally, Sylvanas had enough. Her hand lashed out, and she grabbed Faith's arm so hard that she nearly broke it.

"Stop it," she said in a dangerous voice. "You have absolutely no idea what I've been through. Have you thought about that?"

"Did you even care about what  _your death_  would do to  _me_?" She tried to pull away, but Sylvanas' grip was too tight for her to break. She tried casting a spell, but the queen jumped on her, wrapping herself around her so that she effectively couldn't move, although she struggled like a rabid animal.

Faith started to scream long and hard. It was a sound Sylvanas was used to, but this time, there was something new. She detected a completely different level of anguish in these screams, a girl desperate to return to the peace and love she had known as a child.

They both fell to the ground, Sylvanas still wrapped around her from behind.

"I'm sorry," whispered Sylvanas. "I'm sorry."

Faith screamed.

"I never meant to hurt you. I wanted you to move on and finally be happy."

More screaming. Sylvanas felt wetness on her hands, and couldn't figure out whether it was blood, Faith's tears, or drool.

"I wanted to find my own peace. The peace he took from me. I thought I'd…" Sylvanas's chin trembled, and she pressed her head against Faith's, "I'm sorry."

Finally, there was silence. Faith was shaking, but no longer attempting to get away, her strength spent. Sylvanas, still whispering that she was sorry, eventually picked Faith up and brought her to the bed, where she laid her down.

"Carrick?" called Sylvanas.

He came into the room immediately, followed by ten guards.

"Get me the strongest sleeping potion that we have. She's going to need it."

He nodded once and disappeared.

Sylvanas began to sing softly, brushing strands of hair from Faith's forehead. She didn't kiss her, not wanting to bring on another surge of… whatever that had been. But she kept constant physical contact with her as she sang songs from their time in Quel'Thalas.

Faith looked at her. One of her eyes was completely swollen shut now and was turning a nasty color. The other eye released still more tears. Looking into it, Sylvanas saw pain and betrayal there. She went on singing even after Rotvine returned with the potion.

The two of them helped Faith drink it. Too weak to fight, Faith drank it all, sinking into Sylvanas' arms. She didn't want this. Didn't want to be comforted. Even in her weakened state, Faith tried, mentally, to get Sylvanas to leave. And while the Queen of the Forsaken knew what she was thinking, she remained with her until the dark cloud of unconsciousness stole over her.


	15. Chapter 15

An entire day passed while Faith slept, Sylvanas watching over her without moving from the room. The former ranger-general had taken the time to change out of her bloodstained clothes, but had done little else, although she wanted to keep an eye on her Val'kyr and introduce them to Undercity.

They had stayed on the surface, she knew, not at all surprised by the reception they had gotten, but deciding not to come into the city itself until she accompanied them.

"What are you doing here?"

Sylvanas turned her head, seeing that Faith had woken up and was staring at her with open hostility.

"I wasn't about to leave you alone."

"Funny. The fact that you committed suicide suggests that you really didn't care about that."

Sylvanas cursed, "I'm  _back_ , Faith, does that not matter to you at all?"

Faith shook her head, slowly sitting up. "You don't understand."

"Do  _you_?"

"I understand that you gave up on everything that you built. You gave up on your people, your sister, and me. You left me. You can say whatever you want about your motives, but the fact of the matter is that you left all of us to fend for ourselves. We weren't even prepared for such an eventuality."

"How many times would you like me to apologize?"

"Oh, you can apologize 'til your blue in the face, Sylvanas. Oh, I'm sorry… you already are."

"You tried to commit suicide too."

Faith stared at her. "Yes. You were blaming me for your death, and I felt I had nothing left to live for."

"Is it so hard for you to believe that I felt the same thing? That  _I_  had nothing left to live for anymore? Arthas is dead. I'm not sure you understand what that's like for me."

"You think that I don't understand what it's been like for you? Are you kidding me, Sylvanas? I killed Arthas for you. I went to Icecrown not just to quench my thirst for vengeance, but for  _you_. Do you even realize what it was like for me to lose everything? I lost my entire family, my home, and you. Then you came back. You were nothing like the person you had been before you died, but you were back." She took a deep breath, running a hand over her eyes, "You say you had nothing left to live for. What about me, Sylvanas? Wasn't I enough?"

"I couldn't make you happy."

"You sure as hell can't make me happy by  _dying_."

"Hear me out, will you?  _I can't make you happy._  I can't give you what you need."

"Because you know what I need."

"I do."

Faith threw the covers off herself, surprised to find that she was naked. Not caring, she got to her feet, "Go ahead then. Tell me what I need, since you seem to know everything about me."

"You need to be happy. You haven't been happy since…"

"Of course I haven't been happy! What do you want me to do, Sylvanas? Hop and skip merrily along through the ruins of Quel'Thalas while surrounded by the ghosts of times past?"

"That's what I mean! You haven't moved on!" she cried. "It's been over ten years and you haven't moved on!"

"And neither have you. When Arthas killed you, you had a glimmer of peace, and you've been wanting to go back to that peace ever since. I thought that by killing him, I'd free your soul somehow, but I guess that was impossible, because your soul has been twisted into something that not even the old gods would recognize!"

Sylvanas took a step back.

"What did you see when you died, Sylvanas? Did you find your peace?"

No answer.

"Because I have a feeling that if you had found the peace you've been craving for so long, you wouldn't have returned. What I think is that you ended up in some kind of hell where your soul was tortured. So, yes, you may be  _back_ , your Majesty, but don't you are try to make me believe that you came back because of me. You came back for yourself."

"So what if I did?"

"Well then, once again, you've shown yourself to be the most selfish creature I have ever laid my eyes on." A tear rolled down Faith's cheek. "You say that you know what I need, but you're clueless. What I want, what I  _need_ , is the one thing you've never been able to give me."

She stepped towards the door, using a spell to move Sylvanas out of her way, and walked out of the chamber. The guards stationed outside quickly averted their eyes when they saw her wearing nothing but her own skin, but she was beyond caring.

Sylvanas followed her into her room, "So, that's it? You're going to leave because of this?"

"I have absolutely no reason to stay. You've made your position very clear."

"You can't leave me."

Faith pulled on one of her black dresses, "That's funny. Because I  _am_  leaving."

"You love me. You can't leave."

"Wow. Dying twice really must have affected your brain. I said I'm leaving. You can try to stop me. You can put me in jail again, I don't care. What I know is that I will not stay here with you. I have no reason to, not anymore."

"What about me?"

"You. I don't care. Whatever you came back for, live for that."

"I came back for you, Faith, whether you believe it or not."

"Why should I believe you?

"Because I love you. I don't care if you don't believe me anymore. It's the truth."

"You love me so much that you killed yourself. Oh wait, not just that. But all the secrets you've been keeping from me?"

"What secrets?" Sylvanas sounded weary now.

"What happened in Southshore?"

"South… nothing."

Faith raised her eyebrow, "Really? You didn't send troops there with your pestilential new plague? How many people did you kill? Hundreds? Thousands?"

"We control all of the Hillsbrad Foothills now. For the Horde."

"And if what you did was such a great thing, why did you hide it from me?"

"You didn't need to be involved. You have a soft spot for the Alliance."

"Because I helped them against the Scourge, of course. It might be news to you,  _Sylvanas_ , but I mostly did that so that Scourge's ranks wouldn't be bolstered any more than what they already were."

"Could have fooled me. Burning their corpses would have done the same."

"We needed help against – you know what, I don't need to justify myself to you. Thrall approved of it."

"Thrall is no longer warchief, and you'd do well to remember that."

"And you won't need to worry about me anymore, because, as I said, I'm leaving."

"And where, exactly, are you going to go, pray tell?"

Faith waved a hand around her room so that some of her clothes began to pack themselves, "As I just said, it's none of your concern."

"It is, actually. The new warchief has just ordered that you help spearhead the campaign against Gilneas."

"If that's the case, he can tell me himself." Faith closed the bag she'd packed and performed a few more spells so that things in the room fell into several piles: clothes, photographs, and old weapons. "You can do whatever you want with this. Burn it if you want. Oh, I almost forgot." She pulled something from her pocket, the picture of Sylvanas that she had carried around since before the fall of Quel'Thalas. She looked at it once, then dropped it to the floor.

"Faith!" Sylvanas grabbed her arm as she walked past her, "Really? Because I made a stupid mistake, you –."

"This has  _nothing_  to do with you. You wanted me to move on? Well-done, Sylvanas, I'm moving on. Now get the hell away from me before I send you back to where you came from."

"You won't even give me a chance to explain."

" _You didn't come to me!_  I was your  _lover_ , and you didn't come to me! You didn't tell me what was wrong, when I asked, Sylvanas, and I asked you as often as I could! But you never saw fit to talk to me! So now, I don't want to talk anymore. I want to put as much distance between you and me as I can, and never look back."

"I'm telling you that Garrosh has ordered you to stay here!" She put herself between Faith and whatever was left of the door, "Listen to me, just listen. Please, Faith."

Faith waited, hoisting her bag onto her shoulder.

"You were the love of my life. When I left you the first time, I didn't have a choice. But this time, I did make the choice to leave you behind. I wanted you to move on, not be anchored to me for the rest of your life." She put a finger to Faith's lips, but Faith moved away, not wanting any physical contact with her. "When I died… you're right, I didn't find peace. I guess that I'll never get peace, being as I don't have a soul."

"What makes you think I care?" asked Faith her voice betraying the fact that she cared a great deal about what she was being told.

"I did go to hell. Or my own personal version of hell. Arthas was there, as a child. He was scared and couldn't look at me. I saw… I was tortured. I don't know how much time passed for you while I was gone, but it felt like a year to me. I wandered around in the darkness, between veils of unbearable torture, until I heard your screams. You were there with me, but I couldn't get to you. That was my hell, Faith, the two of us being tortured together. I could do nothing to help you."

Faith said nothing for a few moments, absorbing this new information. "What do you want me to say, Sylvanas? That I forgive you? Because I cannot forgive you. You irrevocably changed something when you decided to take your own life, and nothing you say now will make me believe that you came back for anybody but yourself."

"They said your soul was in danger. That you would end up in that same place when you died. That's why I came back. I can't let you be tortured for all eternity because of what you did for me."

"Who said?"

"They Val'kyr."

"And you didn't think for a moment that they could have lied to you in order to get you to return? My soul isn't in danger, not that way. I haven't been raised into undeath. But your people, the Forsaken, I have no idea where they end up after they find true death. Maybe you should think about that for a while."

"I did. I saw what would happen to everyone if I were to stay dead. Faith… I don't want that to happen."

"Then don't let it."

"I'll need your help."

"You've got a set of balls on you, Sylvanas, asking me for help after pulling a stunt like that!"

"You will never stop blaming me for this, will you? No matter how many times I apologize? Do I need to get down on my knees and beg you for your forgiveness?"

"No. You need to let me deal with this in my own way! I'm not just sad, Sylvanas, I'm furious. I could beat you to death right now! And if you don't let me go right away, I'll end up doing just that."

"Fine! Leave!" Sylvanas turned from her, "I wish I'd never met you."

Faith blinked. Without saying another word, she left, not even waiting until she got to the throne room to teleport away from Undercity.

Not having a clear idea of where she wanted to go, she didn't pay attention to her spell, ending up somewhere completely unexpected.

It was dark where she landed, the gentle breeze bringing the smell of the sea along with a faint odor of decay that had never been there in happier times. The silk curtains that had been a pretty midnight blue now hung in tatters against the cracked window. The glass that had covered the window was long gone, but Faith could see the black sea that beat against the shore.

She sighed, singing to her knees beside the bed that had belonged to Sylvanas. No tears came, she was too mentally weary for such a feat, but her heart felt heavy. Her breath came in short gasps, and she closed her eyes to try to calm herself down. Sleep overtook her as she knelt there, leaning her head against the rotting bed frame.

"Faith."

She opened her eyes and started. Had she slept so long? There was light filtering through whatever was left of the curtains. Sunshine. And standing in front of her, bathed in the light, was Estelien. Her brother.

"I'm dreaming," she said quietly.

He smiled, "Are you?" He walked over to her and took her hand, pulling her to her feet.

"By the sun… you feel warm… real… you're alive!" She fell into her arms, laughing and crying at the same time. Part of her knew that it really was a dream, that her brother was dead and that he would never come back, but at that moment, she didn't care.

Estelien kissed her cheek, "My sweet baby sister. You've been through so much. Too much, I think, for someone who was so sweet and innocent only eleven years ago."

"I think you've been through worse… Where are you, Estelien?"

"Oh, you don't need to worry about that. Just know that we're watching over you."

"You're not in hell?"

The smile on Estelien's face was sad, "I was raised by the Scourge, sweetheart. We all were. There was no escape for any of us. But if it makes you feel any better, we're not in the kind of hell you've heard of."

"What do you mean?"

"I hope you never have to find out." He rubbed the top of her head, and it was such a familiar gesture that she found herself wanting to look towards the path outside her window to see whether Sylvanas was on her way with Prince.

"Why are you here?"

"You're in a lot of pain. I'm your big brother. You used to confide in me when you were hurt, and it was my job to make you feel better." He waved his hand, and, somehow, the dust vanished from the sheets. He took a seat, pulling Faith down next to him. "Sylvanas killed herself."

"I didn't know she was that sad…"

"You must have known, or you would have never felt her die the way you did. Part of you knew, when Rotvine told you what she said to him, that something like this was going to happen."

Faith shook her head, "I thought that she would talk to me. That she would tell me what was wrong. I could have helped her."

Estelien smiled, beginning to braid a lock of her hair, "How would you have helped her? You don't know what she's going through. You can imagine, and you have your own feelings to deal with, but you don't know what she has been going through all this time."

Faith looked down.

"This suicide attempt was about what she felt. What she was going through. You may not feel it, but Sylvanas thinks of you all the time. She screamed out your name before she hit the ground because you were the last person to go through her mind. Yes, what she did was a selfish and cowardly thing. But you've been there."

Tears pooled behind Faith's eyes.

"The pain she felt must have been unbearable. I know that it's difficult for you to forgive her, but you know you're going to eventually. You're Faith, she's Sylvanas. You belong together, in life and undeath. In the beyond and in the almost beyond."

Estelien put a hand on Faith's back, rubbing in slow circles.

"I know it was horrible for you, to realize that she had left you. But whatever you felt was nothing compared to Sylvanas' feelings on the matter. How do you think she feels now?"

Faith couldn't say.

"She told me she wished she had never met me."

"That wasn't easy for her to say. And I'm sure that if you were to go back to Undercity right now, she would take you back with open arms."

"I don't want her to take me back. I don't want to take  _her_  back."

Quiet laughter, the kind that felt warmer than freshly baked bread coming out of the oven. "Of course you want to take her back. Your soul is screaming for her. She belongs with you, and you belong with her. Any attempt at breaking that bond results in disaster. Think about it."

"I didn't break anything."

"No? You left her. She was begging you to stay, and you left her."

She looked at her brother.

"Southshore? She didn't tell you because she didn't want you two to fight about it. You only thought about it now, whereas you realized that she had these kinds of plans weeks ago."

"Not the Plague."

"I guess not. But if you really want to break up with her, and I mean officially break up with her, keep this up. She's a leader, and the world is at war."

"No. We  _were_  at war. We're supposed to be at peace now."

"You're at war," he repeated. "Sylvanas did what she needed to do in order to secure her borders."

"Southshore wasn't a military target."

"It was, if you think about the fact that it was the only Alliance port in Lordaeron."

"But the village… they were farmers, not soldiers."

"You weren't there when the Forsaken attacked them."

"Are you trying to tell me that I can't have an opinion about what she did just because I wasn't there?"

"No. You can have an opinion. But you shouldn't judge her. And you certainly can't use this against her, not now. She was a different person when she attacked Southshore."

Faith shook her head sadly, "What did she go through when she died? Did it really change her that much?"

"She should be the one telling you about that, not me. It was her experience. I had a different experience when I died and was brought back to life, only to have you burn me to a crisp."

Faith gasped at her brother's statement. "I didn't… I mean, Estelien, you know I…"

"I know, little sister." He hugged her, "I love you. Now, wake up and go back to Sylvanas. She's going to want to see you."

"I don't think I can. It hurts too much to think about what she did."

"Tell me that it doesn't hurt you more to be away from her. Go on. Tell me that being here while she's there, with the two of you hurting, isn't breaking your heart."

"Everything is breaking my heart."

"Go home." Estelien kissed her forehead, gently brushing her hair away from her forehead. A few seconds later, he faded away into the sunbeam.

Faith opened her eyes.

The world around her was still dark and cold. A fine rain had begun to fall over Windrunner Spire, dampening a landscape that hadn't seen the Light in a little over a decade.

Getting to her feet, Faith brushed dust from her dress and looked around. A lone gargoyle was hovering by the water, but other than that, nothing seemed to stir.

_I might as well go home_ , she said to herself.

But what if Sylvanas turned her away?


	16. Chapter 16

Faith rubbed sleep out of her eyes. Minutes passed as her mind went over the dream she'd had.

Would Sylvanas take her back? She wasn't even sure she wanted to go back.

_You love her_.

She did. She loved her still. But could she really forgive her lover for what she had done?

_Of course you'll forgive her, you already have._

She shook her head. "No…" she whispered. "I can't go back."

"You have to," said someone behind her.

Faith jumped out of her skin, turning around as her hand glowed with a spell. The Forsaken behind her raised both his hands, meaning to block her, but it was unnecessary. She had already recognized him.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, letting the spell fade.

Rotvine's smile would have been kind, had he been able to manage such a thing. "Sylvanas sent me."

"You can tell her that I'm not ready to see her right now."

"That's not why she sent me," he said, stepping forward. He plunged a hand into his robes and pulled out a scroll, the parchment easily recognizable as the one used in Orgrimmar. "You've just received orders."

"I know he wants me to fight in Gilneas."

"Not Gilneas. You're needed in Orgrimmar."

Faith looked at him, "Orgrimmar?" She took the scroll from him and unrolled it, reading through the note quickly. "There's a new island?"

Rotvine nodded, "Apparently, the earthquakes have pushed a landmass from the depths of the sea, and Garrosh is sending warriors to fight for it because it's very close to Elwynn Forest."

"Why's he calling me for this?"

"If I had to guess? It's because you helped the Alliance so much in the north." He held up a hand, "I know why you did it, you don't need to explain it to me, okay? But I think that he wants to remind you that we're not supposed to be friends with them."

"I'm not friends with them. Well, only with some of them."

"I  _also_  think that, although Garrosh will never admit it, your abilities as a mage are very prized within the Horde. You could do a lot of good for us on that island. Just imagine if we could have a base that close to Stormwind."

Faith shook her head briefly, "I guess it'll be good for me to be away from everything for a while."

"I think so too. Sylvanas is furious with you right now."

"Because I left? I hardly left the planet. Besides, you found me. How did you know where to look for me, anyway?"

"I know you. We all know you. It made sense that you'd come here after something like this."

"I didn't even know where I was going when I teleported."

"Maybe not consciously. Your magic took you here because you're still yearning for what you've lost." He sat on Sylvanas' bed, "You and Sylvanas can't go on like this, you know."

Faith looked down at her hands, saying nothing.

"Why do you let her treat you like this? I know you love her, Faith. I was married once, and I know how deep your feelings run for her."

A tear rolled down her cheek.

"And in all the years I was married, I never suffered the way you both have."

"Your situation was different," said Faith in a broken voice.

"Yes, it was. But no matter what happened to Sylvanas, Faith, it wasn't your fault. You shouldn't keep beating yourself up over it. The woman you loved so ardently died to save you. She would be appalled at the way things are going between you and this version of herself."

"I know." Faith swallowed, "Are you saying that I should leave for good?"

"I'm saying that you should go back to Undercity, get your stuff, and go to Orgrimmar. Without talking to Sylvanas."

"What makes you think I would talk to Sylvanas?"

Rotvine began to laugh, "You know how your people are addicted to arcane magic? They know it's bad, but they use it and use it, until it begins to use them right back. You and Sylvanas are the same. You feed off each other. One could almost say that you feed off each other's pain."

"How do you explain what Sylvanas did?"

"She fell."

"She didn't fall."

"No, I don't mean she fell from Icecrown. I mean she fell. Her addiction to you got the better of her. She had her reasons for doing what she did. You've taken a small amount of time to get used to what happened, but it wasn't enough, and if you see Sylvanas now, you're not going to leave her."

Faith wanted to deny it, but couldn't. "Addictions should make one happy, though."

"Not necessarily. Sure, when you're getting what you need, it's great, but when the buzz wears off, you're left feeling miserable and more needy than before. That's where you're at now."

"You're making it sound like Sylvanas tried to wean herself off me."

"No. But think about it. How would you feel in her position? She wanted Arthas dead, and now he's gone, and she feels like she doesn't have a purpose anymore. You're still horribly sad, despite having taken your revenge on the one who killed her. She feels like she can't make you happy. Think about it."

"But she didn't talk to me. She never really talks to me when there's a problem. She's very good at keeping her feelings to herself, unless she's angry."

"You're her lover, Faith. You know her inside and out."

"I didn't know she was going to commit suicide!" Faith began to pace, running a hand over her eyes, "How could I? She was never the kind of person to do anything like that!"

Rotvine got to his feet and caught her hand, "I wish I could make you understand the pain that she's been going through, but I can't, just like she'll never really understand what you've been going through. But suffice it to say that you've both suffered, and you're suffering as we speak." He pulled her cloak tighter around her body, "Now, come back with me to Undercity and gather your things."

Faith could only nod, stepping through the portal he conjured. Slowly, she made her way through the city, sticking to the shadows and hoping not to run into anybody close to the queen.

_There's nobody closer to the queen than you are_ , she told herself sadly.

She reached her room, noticing that the debris of her door had been cleared away. The open archway made it too easy to see that Sylvanas was sitting on her bed, waiting for her.

She got up, beginning to walk towards her. "Faith –."

"We'll talk when I get back."

"No, we're going to talk now."

"If we talk now, we're going to scream. I will say things that I will ultimately regret, and so will you, which will get us absolutely nowhere." Murmuring a spell, Faith summoned her bag to herself and finished packing, adding a few things to what she had already put in there.

"We need to –."

"We need to take a break." She closed her bag and shouldered it. "You and I will talk when I get back, okay? We'll sit down and really talk." She started walking away and stopped, looking up at the vaulted ceiling, "I still love you, you know."

Sylvanas didn't answer, only looking at her. After a few seconds, Faith left, not looking back.

She teleported to Orgrimmar, finding that several orcs were waiting for her.

"We were wondering when you would arrive, mage Everstone," said one of them, a huge specimen with brown skin and only one ear.

"I got here as quick as I could, Sergeant," she told him.

He regarded her, "Your team is waiting for you."

"My team?"

"Yes. You're here to train some mages for battle."

"I'd be more than happy to train mages. Would you like to lead me to them?"

"That's what you’re here for."

Faith nodded, following him to the Valley of Spirits, where a group of about twenty mages practiced a few spells. A bald female was the only one of them with brown skin, and watched over the group. She turned her head when she heard them, giving a nod in greeting.

"This is Arma," said the sergeant. "One of the finest battle-mages in Kalimdor."

"Nice to meet you, Arma," said Faith, inclining her head.

"I have heard of you," she said. "You ended the war in Northrend."

"No one person could have ended the war against the Scourge. I had a lot of help when I killed Arthas, we all did. I was part of a good team."

Arma nodded, "It is important to know how to work well with others. One person can make a difference in a battle, but only if there is sufficient cover."

"I agree."

Arma's eyes bore into hers and she nodded again, "Welcome to our small force, Major. We hope that you will be able to train us like you trained your Magi Corps in Undercity."

Faith smiled, "I'm sure that could be arranged." She looked at each of the mages in turn, noticing how, unlike the mages of Silvermoon, they all wore very simple robes made of dark brown cloth. "Does your force have a name?"

"We're just called the Orgrimmar Mages. The shaman have more glory than we do."

"Shaman are very much respected in orcish culture," said Faith. "It's not about who has more glory, it's about what your ancestors taught you. If yours taught you that magic was more your forte, then you wear that proudly. In time, others will come to know that mages can be just as valuable as shaman."

And so training began.

Faith had her work cut out for her, because, as far as she could tell, some of the mages assembled there hadn't felt their calling to magic until very recently, and because of that, they were very raw when it came to casting any kind of spell, much less being ready for combat.

But there were a few hopefuls. Arma, for example, was an excellent spellcaster. Her calling was fire, and her personality showed it. Faith felt that she was like a firework, quick to rise to anger, yet tapering off very quickly, once the sparks and explosions had worn off. She liked her, although the feeling didn't seem wholly mutual.

Then there was Korlek, who couldn't have been more than eight years old when Arthas had invaded Quel'Thalas. But despite his youth, he had a good command of the frosty magic that poured from him. People liked to have him around when their ales got too warm, and he was happy to chill them for him, claiming that someday, they would see him as a warrior.

"You command all forms of magic, don't you?" he asked Faith one evening as they enjoyed some roast swine after a hard day's work.

"Some more than others. The Scourge used to call me Blackfire."

"But I've seen you use arcane and frost magic as well."

Faith gave a nod, "I found that it's best to not tie oneself exclusively to one branch of magic. Of course, one will always have a specific calling, like I do to fire, but in order to understand magic more, It's good to explore every option. For one thing, fire magic wouldn't be very useful in water."

"Wouldn't it?"

"It can cause water to bubble," she said, trying to keep herself from chuckling.

A wizened orc, Gorben, came to sit beside her, "You never really had the luxury of training with anybody, did you?"

"Not until it was too late to matter, I suppose. I mostly observed when I lived in Quel'Thalas, and performed some magic here and there so that it wouldn't flare out and injure people. But my magic didn't fully come to me until the Scourge arrived."

"We are lucky to have you with us."

A smile, "Thank you, Gorben. I still think that you would all benefit more from going to Dalaran or Silvermoon for training, because they have a variety of teachers with more experience than I do."

"Except that Garrosh wants us trained for combat immediately. We don't have the luxury to go to a multitude of classes."

Faith shook her head ruefully, "Magic cannot be rushed. It comes at its own pace, and any attempt to speed it along can have disastrous consequences."

But Garrosh had very little patience with magic. Whatever Rotvine had told her about his respect for Faith's abilities as a mage, she knew what the warchief thought. He wanted the mages to be as good as she was in battle, immediately.

"They won't be ready in time to go to war, Warchief," she had told him once.

"You'll just have to make sure that they can fight when the time comes," he had replied, not listening to whatever else she'd had to say.

_Some of these mages can barely conjure a loaf of bread. How will they manage to fight the Alliance, even from a distance?_

New recruits had joined the Mages of Orgrimmar since she had arrived three weeks previously. The most inexperienced one only had the ability to light a small fire. Faith wasn't even sure he could have been called a mage.

But she had done the best she could with them. Those whose magic wasn't strong enough to fight with, she taught in other ways. They learned how to enchant blades and brew potions, which would be useful in any situation.

But they didn't have long. Garrosh had decreed that they had to be ready to leave before the next full moon.

She doubled her efforts with the Mages of Orgrimmar, and most of them responded well to her methods. Even Arma improved, managing, for the first time, to use a teleportation spell, even though it was shoddy.

"That was good, Arma!" cried Faith. "Although I'm not sure why you would want to end up in a cactus."

"I meant to teleport  _behind_  the cactus," she snarled, wincing as she climbed down.

Faith chuckled, "It's a good start. You should keep at it for the rest of the day."

"Will I be ready on time?"

"You will be, yes. So will about half of the others."

"What about those who aren't?"

"They're not coming."

Arma stared at her, "They have to come, Major. Garrosh won't tolerate them staying."

"I'm in command of these mages, Arma, and I'm telling you that there is no way in hell that I will allow them to go anywhere near a battlefield. I've no wish to fill twenty additional graves in the cemetery outside the walls. They'll stay here and train with Gorben."

"What about Garrosh?"

"He'll deal with it. He wouldn't send a newborn to war. These new mages are newborns to magic. Sending them to fight would be tantamount to murdering them. Killing them immediately would be faster."

Faith and Arma didn't have more time to talk about it. The following morning, Garrosh came to them and told them that they would be leaving that very afternoon on a mercenary ship with fifty other warriors. Predictably, he was furious when Faith told him that she wouldn't be taking all of the mages with her.

"If you trust in my abilities at all, and I think you do because you asked me to come and teach these people, you'll believe me when I tell you that they're not ready. They need a lot more training."

"They need more mages on the island."

"Then write to Silvermoon, or ask Sylvanas to send some of the Magi Corps here. You cannot expect me to train an elite magical force in less than two months. I'm sorry, Warchief, but it can't be done."

"You did it in Undercity."

"The members of the Magi Corps were experienced mages long before I even made my way to Undercity. The circumstances are different here. I did the best I could with the mages in Orgrimmar, and while some of them learned quickly, there are some others who are slower. You didn't learn to fight the way you did in just a few weeks."

"Just make sure the ones who  _can_  fight are ready to go."

"Of course."

And they were. By the time the mercenary ship arrived to take them to the battle, they had all been standing at the docks over an hour, going over battle strategies and listening to the veteran fighters telling their stories about the small spit of land they were fighting about.

"It hardly seems worth it if there's nothing there," said Arma.

"It would be a base closer than we've ever had to Alliance lands."

"But it has nothing. Just sand and rocks. It doesn't even have trees or water."

"There's plenty of water around the island."

Faith smirked, "I think she meant drinkable water."

"Oh that. That's not a problem. Once we have control of the island, we'll be able to create a portal there to bring in goods. Besides, it gives us a chance to kill a few Alliance soldiers."

Faith couldn't argue with that logic, although it seemed pointless to her to have to fight for nothing more than a bit of sandy beach.

"Where is this ship anyway?" asked Arma. "Shouldn't it have arrived by now?"

"I see it," said Faith, pointing to the horizon line. "But I didn't expect a Forsaken ship."

"Apparently Sylvanas sent part of her fleet over, since you're here," said one of the warriors. "I heard the warchief saying that it was the main reason for him asking you to come."

"And here I thought my life had no meaning," whispered Faith.

The ship docked in front of them. It was a new ship, from what she could tell, called  _The Immortal Coil_. Several Forsaken greeted her cheerfully, telling her that Rotvine sent his regards. Faith smiled, "I'll make sure to write to him if I have the chance to do such a thing."

"He received your last letter," said the captain.

"Good. Will we be leaving right away?"

The captain nodded, "Yes. We belong on the sea, not on land, so we're keen to leave as soon as possible. We'll just wait for the supplies to be loaded."

"We can take care of that," Faith told him, calling a few of the mages over to her and instructing them to levitate the various boxes onboard. They did so, working so efficiently that the task was completed in less than an hour. Shortly after that, they were under way.

There wasn't enough space on board the ship to have rooms for everyone, so Faith bunked with the others below deck, grabbing a simple hammock for herself close to one of the walls. Arma took the one next to hers, settling into it with a groan. She was already feeling seasick.

"You're not used to being on the water, are you?" Faith asked her.

"No… am I going to feel like this the whole time?"

"I hope not, but everyone reacts differently. You should have taken the potion I gave the others earlier."

"Can I still take some now?"

Faith reached into the bag that she'd hung on the wall and pulled out a vial of clear orange potion, "It tastes bitter, but it should kick in within the hour."

Arma took the vial from her, but it was several minutes before she was able to summon the courage to open her mouth and drink it. After a while, she looked at Faith, "The Dark Lady must really love you to part with her ships for you."

"I don't know about love. Right now, I think she's trying to prove something to me."

Arma didn't press the subject, noticing the look on Faith's face. "You don't want to fight the Alliance?"

"Not really. I just think that there are other things that we should be doing. Like trying to rebuild the world that Deathwing destroyed, and getting back on our feet after Northrend. And we need to figure out what the Twilight's Hammer is up to."

"You still have ties to the Alliance because of Sylvanas."

"You mean Rhonin and Vereesa? I suppose that's true. But Rhonin is a member of the Kirin Tor, and Vereesa is Sylvanas' sister, so I don't think that you can really count them. They're like my family. Don't forget that I knew them for a long time before I joined the Horde."

The first few days of the voyage passed uneventfully, save for the orcs who were still trying to get their sea legs. Faith had to admit that it was entertaining to watch them staggering from side to side as they attempted to walk in a straight line.

On the fourth day of their departure from Orgrimmar, Faith was on deck, chatting with Korlek and trying to get him to improve the icy shield he formed around himself to ward off some attacks. He wasn't very good at it, seeing as Faith managed to shatter it with one spell or a flick of her blade.

"You need to focus when you cast your barrier," she told him. "It's made of magic, and it won't last forever, but when done properly, it could shield you for as long as twenty seconds."

"Hey, what's that?" he asked, pointing to the water.

Faith turned around and frowned. There was debris floating there, bits of wood, and shreds of a blue and gold flag.

"Looks like the Alliance got here before we did," she said. "Are there any Horde ships nearby that could have brought this one down?"

The captain walked over to her, "As far as I know, there are three other Horde ships in the vicinity, but they're at least a couple of days ahead of us."

They came upon what appeared to be an overturned lifeboat. It was small, and three figures lay on top of it, unmoving.

"This was no Horde ship," said Arma, coming on deck with them.

"How do you know?" asked Korlek.

It was Faith who answered, "Because there's no way the Horde would have left any survivors anywhere. Garrosh's orders. And these people died of exposure, from the looks of things."

"So how did their ship sink if we didn't do it? There haven't been any storms lately, not around here."

"I don't –."

The ship shook suddenly. Someone screamed as something rose out of the water, something nightmarish. Faith barely had the time to register that it was an enormous tentacle before a violent shock sent her crashing to the floor of the deck. She hit her head hard, and her vision blurred.

"Faith! Look out!"

Something hit her from behind, and she cried out as pain spiked up and down her back. She blinked, dimly realizing that her feet were numb and that she couldn't get up. Water began to wash over the deck, carrying a warrior overboard. Faith's head was buzzing, and she lost consciousness as a wave crashed over her.


	17. Chapter 17

Undercity was a beehive of activity. Supplies were going out to several areas of Silverpine Forest to get ready for the war against Gilneas. Worgen had been seen in the Forsaken lands, and skirmishes had already broken out, but Sylvanas had sent an advance guard to fight them. The main advance would be leaving the city within the week.

Rotvine was organizing the Magi Corps, trying to figure out which members to send to the front, and which ones to keep as backup.

"This would be a lot easier with Faith here," he said to nobody in particular.

He was sitting at one of the desks in the throne room. Sylvanas, reclining on her chair of bones, was having an audience with a few ambassadors from the Cenarion Circle, getting updates on what was happening in the Plaguelands.

He had been working for about half an hour when the royal guard announced that an ambassador from Orgrimmar had arrived.

"Send him in," said Sylvanas.

Rotvine looked up, surprised when the orc went directly to him. "Master Rotvine," he said. "I have been instructed to give you the casualty lists from the battle against the Alliance." He held out a furled scroll, which was sealed with the wax symbol of the Horde.

"Which battle? We don't have a lot of Forsaken in combat right now."

"The one on the new island."

Glancing at Sylvanas, Rotvine took the scroll from the orc, breaking the seal and unrolling it. He stood up, then sat down. "This cannot be…" he said. There, on top of a list of names, was the name  _Faith Everstone_. He looked at his queen, who was watching him intently. "My Lady…" He couldn't seem to say anything else.

Sylvanas got to her feet, walking down the stairs that led to her throne, and reached him, holding out her hand, "Let me see it, Carrick."

Rotvine couldn't physically cry, but for the first time since he had died, he felt cold and sick. "I…"

"I will not believe it until I see it for myself."

He handed the scroll to her, running a hand over his face.

Sylvanas took it, her eyes reading over Faith's name slowly once, twice, three times. With deliberate calm, she turned to the orc who stood before her, "What happened?"

The orc actually quivered under her glowing red gaze. "As far as we know, the ship she was on was attacked by something, we're not sure what."

"Alliance?" asked Rotvine, his voice trembling considerably.

"No… their ships have been attacked by the same creature."

Sylvanas nodded, "Go on."

"There… I'm afraid there isn't much else to say. There was one survivor from the attack, he's in very bad shape… he said that some monster attacked out of the sea and that the ship sank."

"Are you trying to tell me that Faith drowned? Is that what you're saying? Because that's not possible."

"She… she was hurt. The warrior said that he saw her get pinned by a falling mast. She wasn't conscious when the ship went down."

"How did he see that?" asked Rotvine quickly. "If he was hurt, how did he see?"

"He was washed overboard and saw her before he hit the water. He was the only survivor from the attack, Lady Sylvanas."

Turning her gaze towards Rotvine, Sylvanas spoke, "Carrick, go to Orgrimmar and find out for yourself. Now."

Rotvine left the throne room immediately, taking a portal to Orgrimmar and landing in the sweltering orcish city. He felt numb, as though he were moving in slow motion. He went to Grommash Hold, not finding Garrosh Hellscream, but rather Eitrigg, the old warrior who had been one of Thrall's advisors and now advised the new warchief as best he could.

The orc saw him, immediately going to him. "Lady Sylvanas sent you?"

He nodded, "Please tell me that this is just a horrible misunderstanding. I cannot go back to Undercity to tell Sylvanas that Faith is dead. I can't."

"I'm so sorry, Master Rotvine."

Rotvine closed his eyes briefly, "May I speak to the surviving warrior?"

"I'm afraid that he has just died."

Rotvine closed his eyes, wiping at his mouth, "No, no, no…"

"Listen to me. He spoke to me before he went back to his ancestors. He told me what happened. I am so sorry, Master Rotvine. So sorry."

"Faith  _cannot_  have drowned! She would have done something to stop it!"

"Even she cannot perform magic while unconscious."

"Have you tried to recover her body?"

Eitrigg spoke quietly, "There are sharks in that area… I'm afraid that there would be nothing left to recover."

"Yeah, all right… so now I'm supposed to go back to Sylvanas and tell her that her lover is dead, and that we don't even have her body to hold a proper funeral for her." He shook his head, "I can't… you cannot truly tell me that Faith is dead!" He gave a wail, that of a broken man, and collapsed to the floor. His body shook with tearless sobs. Eitrigg could only watch him, not knowing how to console one of the Forsaken.

"I'm so sorry," he said after a while, as a few of the ambassadors nearby watched wordlessly. "You were close, were you not?"

"I never told her… she was like a daughter to me, even though she was older than I was." He stayed on the floor a moment longer, "What am I supposed to tell the Dark Lady?"

"That Faith died bravely. That she's a hero of the Horde. That we will honor her memory with everything that we do. Come on, go back to Undercity, and be with your queen. I think that she will need you."

It took him a moment to compose himself. He had no idea how he was going to confirm to Sylvanas that Faith was dead and that she would never come back. It didn't seem real. It  _couldn't_  be real.

By the time he returned to Tirisfal Glades, night had fallen. He made his way to the throne room, feeling lost. Sylvanas looked up as he walked in, not needing to hear him say anything.

"So, she really is dead," she said, briefly closing her eyes. "Has her family been notified, do you know?"

"I… I'm not sure, my Lady."

She nodded. "I'll write to them. And I should write to Rhonin and Vereesa."

"Lady Sylvanas…"

"What? I'm fine. I knew this would happen eventually." She stood up, "I'll need you to write to Lor'themar about this. He won't like the news. I'll be in my office if anybody needs me."

The moment she left, one of the guards in the throne room broke ranks and went to him, "It's not true, is it? Faith isn't really dead?"

"Everything I've heard points to the fact that she was killed."

The guard looked towards Sylvanas' office door, "She seems to be taking it well."

"She's not. Believe me… Lady Sylvanas isn't taking this well at all." He shook his head and went to his desk, wishing he could really cry. Not really knowing how to phrase it, he scribbled a note to the regent-lord of Silvermoon, asking a white-faced Ambassador Sunsorrow to deliver it. "I need to tell the Magi Corps…"

But it seemed that the news had spread without him. As he walked to the Magic Quarter, he heard everyone talking about it. Several people came by and hugged him, not knowing what else to do. After what seemed to be hours, he found himself standing in the Ruins of Lordaeron, looking up at the thousands of stars that dotted the sky. As he turned towards the stables, meaning to talk to Lady, he heard noise coming from the translocator that connected Undercity to Silvermoon. He waited, and sure enough, a delegation of Sin'dorei arrived, led by Lor'themar Theron and Halduron Brightwing. Even Grand Magister Ronmath was there, along with Lady Liadrin.

"This is a bad joke, isn't it?" asked the regent-lord of Quel'Thalas as soon as he saw him. "You did not just send me a note telling me that Faith Everstone is…" he couldn't even finish his sentence.

Rotvine's voice shook, "I wish I could tell you that it was…"

Lady Liadrin hissed in a breath, covering her mouth with her hand. Next to her, Halduron cursed in Thalassian, swallowing hard.

"Where's Sylvanas?"

"In her office. I don't think she wants to be disturbed. She's writing to Faith's family."

"Faith's family is dead."

"The one in Thunder Bluff."

"Oh… yes, of course…" He walked towards the entrance to the city itself, the others following him. He felt sick and clammy, as though he had gotten a sudden bout of nasty flu. Or the Plague. He turned towards Rotvine, "Are you sure? I mean, are you absolutely sure?"

"It's what I was told. Eitrigg wouldn't lie about something like this."

"But he didn't work with Faith directly."

"No, but he knew of her, and how important she is… how important she was to Undercity."

"But nobody's found her body," said Grand Magister Ronmath.

"Nobody's found anything. Just a bit of debris in the water to indicate that a ship was there."

Letting them talk, Lor'themar walked faster until he found himself knocking at the door to Sylvanas' office. There was no answer, so, taking liberties he hoped he wouldn't regret, he opened the door.

Sylvanas was standing just inches away from the door with her back to him. She was completely still and it took him a second to realize that this was because she had no need to breathe.

"Sylvanas?" he said softly.

Nothing. Lor'themar closed the door behind himself, putting a hand on Sylvanas' shoulder to turn her around.

"Why?" she asked.

"Why what?"

"Why did I come back if she's just going to be taken from me?"

"You can't predict the way things are going to happen, Sylvanas."

Sylvanas blinked before she made her way to the desk and sank into the chair behind it. Putting her arms on the desk, she then rested her head there, closing her eyes. A thousand emotions welled inside her.

Drowned. Faith had drowned. She would never see her again. They had parted in anger instead of in love.

Faith was dead.

"You know, Arthas showed me hundreds of different ways for Faith to die. And I don't think that any of them involved drowning. It's funny, right? Out of all the deaths I foresaw for her, this was the furthest from my mind."

She began to laugh, the sound eerie in the room, and entirely humorless.

"I always hoped that if she died, it would be in my arms so that I could tell her how much I loved her. She didn't know that I did." Another chuckle, "She was so angry with me for killing myself. And now I'll never get a chance to know whether she forgave me."

A tear ran down her cheek, instantly turning to dust.

Lor'themar walked over to her and put a hand on her back, "You two have had a very difficult relationship. Frankly, I don't know how you lasted as long as you did."

Sylvanas wiped at her eyes, "I don't think we would have lasted much longer. But I did love her. In my own way, I loved her more than I've ever loved anything or anybody. And now I'll never get to tell her."

"She knew."

"I never gave her the love she needed." She burst into tears then, burying her head in her arms and sobbing like she hadn't sobbed in decades. Memories flooded her, one after the other, all blurring into the inescapable image that was Faith. The love of her life. The woman she should have been married to. Who was now dead. Her sobs turned into screams, and it took all of Lor'themar's willpower not to clap his hands over his ears as his own grief broke the few barriers he had managed to erect around himself.

_What will we do without her?_

It was a question that many people asked themselves over the days that followed, as they made arrangements for a memorial service that would be held for her. Sylvanas insisted on doing everything herself, accepting very little help from outsiders. She didn't know how to guide her people through this. She tried to squash her sadness, but found that, for the first time in her life and undeath, her emotions got the better of her.

She spent a lot of time with Rotvine, who was only going through the motions because he knew that Faith would never want him to give up. He and Sylvanas went to Dalaran, where a stunned Vereesa greeted them through a veil of tears. The twins were inconsolable, climbing on Sylvanas' lap and crying there, asking her why she couldn't bring Faith back.

"Even if I could, I would never do that to her," she told them quietly.

They returned to Undercity to find that several Alliance leaders had arrived, including Muradin Bronzebeard and Prince Anduin, who was there with his father.

"I'm so sorry for your loss, Lady Sylvanas," said the young prince. "I can only imagine the pain this must be causing you."

"Thank you," she replied. She knew she should say more, thank him and the others for coming, but she couldn't find the words to speak.

The service for Faith was held in the Ruins of Lordaeron. The dwarves of Ironforge, remembering how she had helped them during the war, had carved her likeness on a slab of white marble, which they had brought to Undercity to use as a headstone. It was better than anything Sylvanas could have come up with, and when Rhonin used magic to carve words into it, the monument was perfect, surrounded by thorny rose vines and crimson buds that would never die, even in the ruins.

"You were my everything, Faith," said Sylvanas in a constricted voice. "My light in the storm, my hope in the dark. I should have made sure to make you happy, but I failed you, my love."

There was nothing else she could say, the pain inside her too great to be put into words. Next to her, Hamu was sobbing on Ishaka's shoulder while his parents just stared at the memorial site, too numb to speak.

"Faith embodied the best of our race," said Lor'themar. "She was kind, graceful, and strong. She saved my life…" he paused, collecting himself. "She saved my life when Arthas killed our king, and kept going even when everything she had known was destroyed. She even helped the Alliance in Northrend, something that very few of us would have done, even if it was to undermine the Scourge." He chuckled, "And she loved her," he said, pointing to Sylvanas. "Nobody understands why or how, but she loved our general before and after her death. It was her defining characteristic."

Sylvanas looked down. It  _had_  been Faith's defining characteristic. Everything she had done had been because of her love. Everything.

_And you threw it back in her face._

She stood in front of the grave for hours after the service had ended, looking at the craving of Faith's face. Tears turned to dust on her cheeks, and she made no effort to wipe them as her body shook.

"Oh, my love… where are you?"

Where was she, indeed.

Faith  _had_  gone into the water while unconscious. Completely unable to move, she wouldn't have managed to perform a spell even if she had been awake.

But she hadn't died. Of course, nobody could know that. The attack had been so violent that many people  _had_  been killed, except for around thirty of them, who had somehow been rescued. Most of them, including Arma, had been found by the Earthen Ring, the shamanistic organization dedicated to the study of the elements, and more recently, to finding out what had happened when Deathwing had broken out of Deepholm and begun the Cataclysm.

Faith, however, wasn't saved by the shaman. A creature developed an interest in her, a serpentine creature with a pink and orange body, and four arms that caught her easily as she sank down to the bottom of the sea.

Using its own brand of magic, the creature swam with Faith to the relative safety of a cave that was a good distance from the wreck of the  _Immortal Coil_ , in an area inhabited by sea snakes and a few hammerhead sharks.

"What a pretty morssssel you are," said the creature once it had laid Faith down on a bed of dried kelp. The creature noticed Faith's injury, and went about binding her back to give her some stability for when she woke up. It also brought her fish every day, which it cleaned and left on a polished rock, should Faith get hungry.

But Faith didn't wake up for several days, locked in a nightmare she couldn't get out of. In the nightmare, she felt that her back was injured and that she couldn't move her legs. Therefore, she was unable to help Sylvanas and her friends as an unimaginable attack destroyed the world she held so dear. She tried to scream, but no sound would come from her throat.

The creature saw her struggling and poured fresh water into her mouth, for there was a spring in the cave, and soothed her as best she could.

Finally, after five days, just as Undercity was holding her memorial service, Faith opened her eyes.

At first, she saw nothing, only darkness, and for a moment, she was positive that she had gone blind. She sensed that she was somewhere damp, and could hear water dripping from somewhere. She tried moving, but couldn't. Her legs remained still.

Murmuring a spell, she conjured up a small ball of fire, lighting the place she was in with orange light.

"How did I get here?" she asked herself, taking in the cave walls, which would have been high enough to allow her to stand, should she care to do it. She looked down and saw the kelp tied around her. It was very tight, feeling more like a corset than anything, but it allowed her to move her arms.

"Your back needssss to heal. Do not move sssso much."

Faith started and tried craning her neck to see who had spoken. She saw water splashing at the mouth of the cave, and in the water, she saw the face of a creature that would have caused her to scream had the circumstances been different.

A naga was staring at her, the crest around its face indicating that it was female.

"Did you save me?" asked Faith.

The naga nodded.

Faith relaxed, "Thank you. I wasn't aware that there were naga around here."

"Thissss issss our home. My kin have taken many of your friendssss."

"Where are we?"

"In Vashj'ir. The ancient home of my people. Queen Azshara livessss here."

"Azshara?" cried Faith. She would have gotten to her feet, if able. "She's  _here_?"

Faith heard the naga slither out of the water. A moment later, the creature was in front of her, "Not right here. But in Vashj'ir."

Marginally calming down, Faith looked at the creature. "Why did you save me?"

"You're pretty."

"You saved me because I'm pretty?" She thought about it, knowing that naga sometimes kept slaves in their midst. Was that what this creature wanted to do with her? Keep her as a slave? "Well, thank you for helping me. My name is Faith. What about you?"

"Nobody ever wanted to know my name before, except for naga."

"Well, you saved my life, so I would like to know who to thank."

"My name issss Thressa."

"Hello, Thressa. It's nice to meet you. Are you a priestess?"

Thressa gave a nod. "I have healed your back a little, but I cannot do a lot yet. You broke it."

"Of course I broke it," muttered Faith. "I suppose that losing nearly a hundred soldiers of Orgrimmar, not to mention a new Forsaken ship, wasn't enough."

"You could be dead," said Thressa.

"That would be worse, yes."

Thressa began cleaning some fish that she had caught, "Are you hungry?"

"Yes, actually, I am. How long ago did you find me?"

"Five dayssss."

Five days. That would be enough for people to think she was dead, if they had heard of the ship sinking. For who would know that she was alive hundreds of feet beneath the surface of the ocean?


	18. Chapter 18

The naga swam in lazy circles around the cave, making sure that she had caught all of the fish nearby. She spotted some clams, and picked them up, hoping that her little prisoner would enjoy them. After all, she had to eat if she was going to get better.

Prisoner. Thressa smiled. The pretty elf thought that she had saved her out of kindness, but that wasn't the case. Thressa wasn't kind by nature, although she knew how to be in order to get her way. And kindness was the key to getting Faith exactly where she wanted her to be.

She returned to the cave, seeing that Faith was sitting up. A week had passed since she had woken up, and while she hadn't been able to get out of her kelp bed, she could now sit up and wriggle her toes, which was a huge progress.

"I found thesssse," she said, slithering to Faith and showing her the clams. "What do you think?"

"They're huge!" exclaimed Faith. "I've never seen clams so big before."

"They grow well here." Thressa quickly opened them, taking out the soft meat and dividing it between the two of them, because Faith liked to cook them over an open fire, whereas the naga priestess was happier eating them raw.

The huge clams tasted divine after they'd been roasted. Thressa ate hers with an enthusiasm that almost made Faith smile, and afterwards, the naga set about trying to heal her back in short spurts. Anybody would have been amazed to see a naga helping a Sin'dorei that way, but Faith had been on the receiving end of healing spells before, and whatever Thressa was doing, it wasn't healing.

She said nothing about it, however, not wanting to anger the creature who had saved her life.

Weeks passed, and as they did, it became increasingly obvious to Faith that Thressa was enjoying keeping her there. She brought her gifts of pearls and other sea goods, and stayed close to her, performing little spells here and there to make her feel like she was getting better.

And she was. One of the gifts Thressa had given her was an herb called Azshara's Veil, which had good medicinal properties. Faith found that, when boiled, it eased her pain quite a bit and allowed her to heal faster.

But it wasn't easy. She wondered whether she would be able to walk again. She still felt too weak to attempt powerful spells, and knew that trying to create a portal would probably kill her.

_I'm sure Thressa did something to keep me from performing most spells_ , she thought one day when the naga was out hunting. It was the only explanation she had for not being able to conjure anything more than a fire since she had woken up.

"What are you doing?"

Faith started. Thressa had returned a little sooner from her hunt, half a dozen fish clutched in her hands.

"I wanted to try to get up. It's been weeks, I should be strong enough to walk."

"I told you, I have not been able to heal you well enough."

Faith nodded, "But even with that, the bones in my back should have mended by now."

Thressa slithered over to her, "You should not try to get up yet."

"Could you please try to help me? I just want to see if I can do it."

With a sigh, the naga set the fish down and put two of her arms around her. "You can do it, but you will be in pain."

She wasn't wrong. Faith managed to take a few steps, but her back seemed to be screaming at her. Something clearly wasn't right, making her long for the Dalaran healers.

"You ssssee?"

Faith gave a nod, gritting her teeth, "I think it would be good for me to try to walk a little every day."

"All right. I will help you with that. But for now, you need to lie back down."

She did, despite the fact that doing so didn't do anything to ease the pain. The bed of kelp she had lain on at first had been replaced by sand, when it had been obvious that it was better for her, but it offered only minor relief.

_I have to get out of here_ , she said to herself. She thought of Sylvanas, trying to find comfort in the memories she had of her. All that came to her, though, was the way she had left things with her. Yes, she had told her that she loved her, but she hadn't kissed her.

Would she ever get to kiss her again? She couldn't answer that question. Even if she were to kill Thressa, how would she leave the cave she was in? Breathing underwater would present a small problem, even though there was a spell that could help her with that.

There was also the fact that she had no idea where she was. She felt very disoriented, which was probably the point in keeping her in the cave.

One day, she decided to ask.

"Thressa, have you seen any of my people around?"

"Your people?"

"Yeah. Anybody from the Horde? Elves, Orcs, Forsaken? You know who I'm talking about, I think."

"I know who you mean. But I haven't sssseen anybody elsssse around. Maybe the other naga have."

"The other naga. Right, I haven't seen any other naga either. Where are they?"

"Not here."

"In my experience, Thressa, naga don't operate alone. Where there is one naga, there are at least a dozen others nearby. Isn't that the case here?"

Thressa looked at her, her eyes narrowed. "I cannot go back to my people," she said after a few minutes. "They exiled me."

"Oh… I'm sorry."

"Why do you assssk?"

"I'm just surprised that we've been alone this entire time. It's been four weeks now, hasn't it?"

"Not many naga come thissss way."

"Why not?"

"You cannot ssssee from here, but there are ssssea ssssnakes not far away."

"Sea snakes. And sharks too, I presume?"

Thressa nodded, still looking at her, "You want to leave here, don't you?"

"Let's just say that I don't enjoy being stuck in an underwater cave with a broken back. And I can't imagine that you're enjoying having to take care of me. It would be easier if I could find a way to the surface. Then I'd be able to cast a spell to go home."

There was no mistaking the look that crossed Thressa's features. "You cannot go home," she said.

"No," whispered Faith. "I didn't think I would be able to."

"I want to keep you here with me." Thressa raised her hands, and before Faith could even attempt to summon any form of resistance, a spell hit her, causing her eyes to close and her body to grow heavy.

She woke up two or three times, feeling something stroking her body over and over again. It wasn't a healing touch, but a sexual one, and had Faith been able to, she would have blown the naga to smithereens.

There was no way for her to resist. Her mind screamed at her to move, but her muscles were frozen. She cried, and Thressa kissed her tears away as her tail and hands kept up the methodical exploration of her body, penetrating her in every possible way, slimy, cold, and demanding.

_Sylvanas… help me, please… Where are you?_

But nobody came, not that fateful night or in the two weeks that followed. Thressa kept her naked, claiming that her clothes were beginning to rot. She also began to really heal her, and Faith started to have an idea of what the naga was planning. She just had no clue how to stop her.

One day, Faith woke up with Thressa hovering over her. "It issss time," she said. She raised her hand, and Faith flinched, but she merely felt something happening to her nose and lungs, some kind of deep burning as they were modified. "Thissss will help you breathe underwater."

"So you're moving me now."

There was no answer as Thressa tied a strong length of kelp around them both. Faith had no choice but to follow, slowly, as the naga led her out of the cave and into the water. After two months in the cave, the immersion into the salty water felt wonderful, but she panicked a little at the thought of having to breathe it in. She needn't have worried, though: Thressa's spell worked perfectly, allowing her to breathe normally.

"That's a great spell, Thressa. I can see clearly too."

Thressa merely glanced at her, beginning to swim. The sea snakes around the cave paid very little attention to them, although one of them did get a little too close to Faith. Thressa killed it with some kind of shadowy spell and went on her way, dragging Faith along, who found that swimming wasn't as painful as walking.

She looked up, surprised to notice that the surface wasn't really that far away. But as far as she could see, there was only underwater scenery around her. The shore didn't seem to be anywhere.

_Face it. You're in the middle of the ocean, and there's nothing you can do about it._

As they moved further away from the cave, Faith noticed a few things that indicated that she hadn't been the only survivor in this underwater world. An Alliance shield lay on the ocean floor next to what appeared to be a distinctive orc spear. There were signs of battle, although they were faint. Faith could almost taste blood in the water.

_Even here, with naga attacking them, all they can do is fight each other…_  she thought sadly.

They passed by the vestiges of a sunken ship,  _The Immortal Coil_ , and not for the first time did Faith wonder whether others from her crew had survived. The Forsaken couldn't drown, so it was likely that they had made it somehow.

Several naga seemed to be patrolling the area, and judging by the way they moved, Faith guessed that they had been placed there as sentinels.

_In case anybody comes looking here_.

"Move," said Thressa.

Faith did, allowing Thressa to pull her, rather than attempting to swim on her own. It was easier on her back that way.

It took some time to get to wherever the priestess wanted to go. Faith looked around, trying to commit everything to memory. Giant forests of kelp surrounded them, hiding large makrura and sea turtles in their green fronds. There were also vestiges of ships, both Horde and Alliance, making Faith wonder just what kind of creature could have done such a thing. It certainly hadn't been the naga.

"How far do your people live, Thressa?" asked Faith after a couple of hours had passed. She was feeling exhausted, barely able to keep her eyes open.

Thressa looked back at her, "We have to take the underwater currentssss." She pointed towards a dark gorge, "But it might hurt your back more. Come on." Pulling her along, she dove down into the gorge, whose water was much colder. Faith was immediately frozen, but had no time to say anything as the currents caught her, pushing and shoving her and the naga towards an unknown destination. Crying out, she closed her eyes as her back throbbed with pain.

All of a sudden, she felt a tremendous yank that caused her to shriek. Thressa had pulled her out of the currents without warning, at the doors of a naga settlement nestled within a coral reef.

Despite the mortal danger Faith knew herself to be in, she couldn't help but admire the beauty of what was around her. The colors were vibrant, hues of blue, green, and violet, glistening in the water.

"Ssssira Village," she said. "Named after the Ssssira'Kess Naga."

Sira Village. Faith had never heard of it, nor had she ever heard of the Sira'Kess naga until that very moment. Of course, she couldn't know every naga faction in the world, as it would have meant extensively studying the naga, creatures that she was usually keen to avoid.

They moved into the village, Thressa still stringing her along like a puppy. Faith was very aware of all the naga around her, all armed with tridents and staves, hissing and staring at her naked body as she passed.

A large male appeared, covered in necklaces and charms, indicating that he was a high-ranking member of the tribe. He spoke in rapid Nazja, but Faith managed to understand part of what was being said.

From what she could gather, the male was furious for Thressa for coming back to the village, from which she had been banned.

_Well, that confirms one of your suspicions_ , said a voice in her mind that sounded a lot like Sylvanas.

Faith shook her head briefly, listening to Thressa, who was muttering that she was bringing a highly valuable present.

The male's response was garbled, but Faith caught the words 'others' and 'enough'. Looking around herself, she saw several cages, one of which seemed to be occupied. From where she was, she couldn't tell what race the prisoner was, but it was enough for her to understand what was going on.

The male looked at her, and, with a gesture of his arm, ordered the other naga to grab her. They severed the kelp that had kept her tethered to Thressa, and dragged her, none too gently, towards the cages, throwing her inside an unoccupied one.

"This is not the first time I've been locked in a cage," she whispered once she was alone. She rubbed at her back, wincing as shooting pains ran up and down her spine.

"But it may be yer last, lassie," said a weak voice not far away.

Faith turned her head, staring at the occupant of the cage next to hers. She knew that dwarf. Dark memories of black walls with a venomous green light came over her. She could almost hear the click of the spiders' pincers, and smell the carrion scents of the necropolis.

"You were a prisoner with me in Naxxramas, weren't you?" she asked.

"Aye. Who would have thought that we would be reunited in naga cages?" He chuckled a little. "My name is Daegon Moore."

"It's nice to know your name, Daegon." Faith sighed, "How long have you been here?"

"About three weeks. And don't worry, this is a piece of cake compared to Naxxramas. Word had it that yeh'd been killed, lassie."

"What do you mean?"

"We heard in Ironforge that your ship sank. King Muradin went to your memorial service in Undercity."

Faith's head spun, and she sat down suddenly, "My… memorial service?"

"Aye. They thought yeh were dead. They'll have a proper surprise when they see that yeh've survived."

"Sylvanas had a memorial service for me…" she whispered.

"Well, of course she did! She came to rescue yeh, didn' she? It doesn' take a genius to know that she loves yeh."

"I was so angry at her. And she was angry with me when I left."

"Bein' angry doesn' mean that love is gone."

"No, I know. But I still didn't think she would hold a memorial service."

"From what I heard, all of the city was there. King Magni and King Wrynn with Prince Anduin. And all of the Horde leaders, even Garrosh."

A snort, "Now I know you're lying. Garrosh would never come to my funeral."

"Well now, I dunno. I think he knows how important yeh are to Sylvanas."

"Which is why he sent me to war against the Alliance, I bet."

Several naga rushed over to them, hissing, their tridents raised. "No talking!" they cried.

Faith quieted down, curling up on the sand and closing her eyes.

She dreamt of better times, of a hunt between her and Sylvanas that had never happened. The two of them in a competition to bring down the most deer, with the winner being the happy recipient of the loser's services. She could almost hear Sylvanas' cry in her ears, beautiful sounds of lust and need and she lost herself in the woman she loved.

At the exact same moment, in a room at the Sepulcher, Sylvanas opened her eyes, turning her head left and right, and then left again, as though coming out of a dream.

"Are you all right, my Lady?" asked Rotvine, who was sitting nearby, reading a report.

"I wish people would stop asking me if I'm all right."

"You just looked startled, that's all."

"No, I wasn't startled. I just… I was thinking about Faith. I don't know why, but I almost feel like she's still alive. Is it stupid of me to think that?"

"I don't think so. It doesn't seem real that she's gone."

"I don't mean that. I almost feel like she's with me, still connected to me somehow. Sometimes, when she used to dream, images would come to my mind."

"What kind of images?" asked Rotvine, curious.

"Never mind that. It started happening after she drank the elixir I sent her for Icecrown."

"Oh, that kind of connection. Wait, do you mean that you felt something like that just then?"

Sylvanas smiled a little, "Not exactly. Maybe it was just a daydream." She rubbed her eyes gently, "Sometimes I think that she's going to come walking through the door and tell me that it was all a big misunderstanding."

"You're not the only one who thinks that, Your Majesty. Although I suppose that you're the one whose wishes are the most ardent."

"People loved her. More than they love me."

"I don't think that's true. They loved her because of her connection to you. They saw that she made you happy, and that you made her happy, which allowed them to see her as more than just a living creature who was hiding out with the undead."

"Perhaps," said Sylvanas, privately thinking that her people had seen the same thing in her that she always had. Kindness, love, compassion, and a fierce loyalty to her and her people. "I miss her."

"Yes. I suspect that you'll always miss her."

"Not just me. You miss her too."

Rotvine nodded, "If I were alive, I would say that I miss Faith with every breath I take. She brought a new light to the city, a light that was extinguished when she died." Saying the words still hurt him. Faith was dead, and she was never coming back. It was a reality that all of them were going to have to accept if they were going to move on.

"I didn't see her when Godfrey killed me," said Sylvanas.

"See her? In the darkness, you mean?"

She nodded, "I thought I would. They told me that her soul was doomed because of everything that she did for me. But I couldn't find her."

"Do you really believe that Faith's soul would be doomed? Even if she killed for you, do you honestly think that it's true?"

"What else am I supposed to think?"

"That Faith is in a better place. A place where she's loved and cared for, one where she can love you without consequence."

A tear dried to dust on Sylvanas' cheek, "I hope so."


	19. Chapter 19

The air was damp. Most of the Forsaken stationed at the Sepulcher didn't care, but Sylvanas remembered the way Faith would always walk around, casting spells on everyone to keep them from being too wet. Sitting outside, she looked up at the sky and back towards the line of Forsaken on their way back to High Command. Their victory in Gilneas had been short-lived, but she had been able to kill the prince of Gilneas, although she had been aiming for his father.

_What would Faith say if she knew what you had done to the land?_

Faith had never liked the worgen due to the way she and her people had been treated by Greymane's forces after escaping Quel'Thalas. But Sylvanas was positive that her late lover would have been furious if she had seen the plague running rampant the way it had when the Undercity forces had pulled back to Silverpine Forest. Not much would be able to grow in Gilneas for quite some time.

_I think I can live with that. Besides, Faith is dead, and she's never returning. I don't care anymore._

Although that wasn't true. She cared very much about the fact that Faith was dead. She had sent a ship to try to recover her body, but so far, nobody had made contact, save to say that they had arrived at the point where they thought the disaster had taken place.

That had been the previous week. She hadn't heard anything since then, and wondered whether she ever would.

_Even if you do find her body, what will you do with it? You can't bring her back, not after such a long time has passed. Nobody would forgive you for it, least of all her._

No, she couldn't bring Faith back. But she would be able to close this chapter of her life, and maybe she'd be able to move on.

She smiled grimly. Move on. To the outside world, she certainly had moved on. The aggression she had displayed in Gilneas had surely helped in showing people that she was as cold as ever. That losing Faith hadn't affected her in the slightest. She had even heard people talking about it.

But inside, she was screaming. She wanted Faith back. She couldn't believe that she had spent two months in a world where Faith didn't exist anymore.

_It doesn't make any sense. She and I were supposed to be together forever. Not even my death stopped us from being in love with each other. We were still together, even after that. Now she's really gone…_

From the corner of her eye, she caught a silvery glow of one of the five Val'kyr that were left. The creature flew over to her, hovering before her, its wings beating softly. It was Aradne, the highest-ranking one now that Arthura, Agatha and Daschla were dead. They'd been forced to give their lives for her when Godfrey had killed her suddenly, just as they had been leaving Gilneas.

"What troubles you, Queen Sylvanas?"

"I was just thinking of what Annhylde had said to me before you all brought me back. About Faith's soul being damned."

"What about it?"

Sylvanas absently pushed a lock of hair back under the hood of her cloak, "She wasn't there when I died. I looked for her, but I couldn't find her. Did Annhylde lie to me to get me to come back?"

"I don't really know what she was thinking when she told you this. But you not being able to find Faith in the dark now is normal. You were dead only a few minutes. In Icecrown, you were dead for over an hour."

"Are you telling me that I didn't have time to look for her? Because I couldn't feel her  _at all_. And why would Faith's soul really be damned? How would that work, anyway? Answer me, Aradne."

"There is no way to answer in a satisfying manner."

"I don't care. Just tell me."

"Annhylde believed that Faith's soul was doomed because of her work with the Forsaken."

"But not everyone who works with us is doomed."

"No, but she loved you, it's different."

Sylvanas got to her feet, "Cut the crap, will you?"

"I do not know whether Faith's soul is really damned. You not finding her is irrelevant. She could have been anywhere else."

"Like in eternal peace?" Sylvanas' voice sounded hopeful. "If I cannot get peace for myself, I want Faith to have it. She deserves peace after everything she had been through."

"There is no way to know, my Lady, I'm sorry."

"No way to know. So Annhylde said whatever she had to say in order to get me to come back?"

"Isn't it better to be back than to live in hell for all eternity?"

"Faith is dead. Nothing can be worse than living in a world without her." With that, she turned on her heel and left, getting her troops ready for the trip back to Undercity. As she did, she caught a slight glimpse of the sea. "Oh, my Faith. I hope that you truly are at peace now. I miss you." In her mind, she heard Faith responding to her, telling her that she loved her too, no matter what.

Faith did love Sylvanas. More than she ever had before. It was this that sustained her in the days that followed her capture at the hands of the naga, who were worse than Thressa had ever been to her. She and Daegon didn't eat every day, which weakened them considerably, and sleep was hard to come by, as their captors rattled the bars of their cages every once in a while to keep them awake.

The naga also took to questioning Faith on a daily basis, torturing her when they couldn't get any clear answers out of her.

One day, Faith had enough. "I don't  _know_  how many forces are here, how many times do I have to tell you?" she cried. "Thressa would know this better than me, since she took me when my ship sank!"

"We intend to assssk her," said her torturer.

And ask her they did. Faith couldn't be sure of what was happening when they put her back into her cage with fresh bruises on her body, but she could hear the sounds of something happening in the central square of the village, just beyond her field of vision.

"What is that, Daegon?" she asked.

"Someone's bein' tortured. They use hot water here against each other."

Faith slowly turned her head towards him, "How is that possible?"

"The naga know some magic that causes water ter boil very fast, so they use that spell ter burn their victims. Sometimes they kill them."

The idea of being boiled alive certainly wasn't one that had entered Faith's mind since she had arrived in Vashj'ir. "That sounds… unpleasant," she told him. Her back stung where her torturer had carved symbols into the flesh there. The salt water of the sea didn't help matters any.

The noise stopped, and several of the serpentine naga swam by, muttering something about the traitor having deserved what she had gotten.

Thressa. Had she been the one to be tortured? The part of Faith that still mulled over the sexual assault she'd been through rubbed her hands gleefully at the thought. But another part of her thought that nobody deserved to die that way. She glanced at an area of her cage that she'd been working on for the past couple of days, trying to work one of the bars loose, and slowly inched her way closer to continue what she'd started.

"Do yeh really think yeh'll be able to work the cage open?"

"I have to try," she told Daegon.

But as it turned out, what she had done was quite unnecessary. That same morning, the naga opened her cage door and wrenched her out of it, bringing her to their chief, Lord Aleshj, the naga who had greeted Thressa when she'd brought Faith over.

"Thressssa has told ussss who you are," he said. Faith found that she could understand him without any problems, due to an amulet around his neck that distorted his underwater speech.

"It didn't sound as though she was saying anything willingly," replied Faith.

Lord Aleshj smiled, an action that rendered him even more terrifying. One of his fangs was adorned with a gold hoop. "She sssserved her purposssse, Blackfire."

So, they  _did_  know who she was. According to the naga, Thressa had delved into her mind while she'd been unconscious, gaining access to many bits of information that Faith would have never shared on her own free will.

"I know of ssssomeone who would pay a lot of money for you," he continued.

"Yes, I'm sure. I know a few of them myself, although most of them are dead, so I think you might have to wait a little for your reward, such as it is."

"Not all are dead. Lord Kel'Thuzad issss alive."

A spike of hatred drove itself through Faith's heart. "Kel'Thuzad was killed when Naxxramas was destroyed."

"Are you sure about that?"

She had been… until that very second. She hadn't heard anything about his phylactery being destroyed, but everyone had said that he was dead.

"Becausssse we know he'ssss sssstill alive."

"I didn't know that the naga allied themselves with the Scourge. You've certainly fallen low after pledging allegiance to the Old Gods."

The naga hit her. They were underwater, which lessened the blow, but she would still have a sizeable bruise on her cheek the following day. "You would do well to remember that the Old Godssss could kill you in a moment."

"There are a lot of creatures who could kill me in a moment. And yet, here I still am."

"Our prisoner!"

"For now," agreed Faith. "Although I'm fairly certain that I won't be for long, since you're either planning on killing me or sending me back to Northrend. Although I have no idea how you're going to manage something like that from here." A journey to Northrend would take weeks, and as far as she knew, the naga didn't use any means of transport.

"That issss none of your con…" Lord Aleshj's eyes went wide. For a second, he merely looked comical, his black tongue lolling out of his mouth. Then, suddenly, he pitched forward, landing face-first in the sand. As he fell, Faith saw the end of a spear protruding from his back.

The naga around her shrieked, and Faith took that opportunity to turn towards the nearest creature and gouge out its eyes. It was a dirty way of fighting, but as she had no weapons and she still couldn't cast spells, it was the only thing she could do. The naga dropped the trident it had been holding, and she seized it before skewering her serpentine foe with it.

She couldn't see the people who were attacking the naga, as they were hidden in the coral reef, but she could see spells and weapons being hurled from every direction. As quickly as she could, she made her way back to Daegon's cage, using the trident to break open the lock.

"What's goin' on?"

"They're under attack! I have no idea by what or who, but this is our chance. Can you cast?"

"I'm afraid not, lassie."

"Let's get you a weapon then. Come on."

Daegon was in better shape than she was, and quickly got himself a spear of his own. Together, they killed several of the naga just as someone emerged from behind the reef.

"Is that a  _Broken_?" asked Faith.

"It's the Earthen Ring, lassie!" cried Daegon, delighted.

The Earthen Ring. Faith could hardly believe that it would be this easy for her and Daegon to escape the naga. But as the battle raged, it was evident that the shaman were superior in skill and number to their opponents. One of them, an older female dwarf, spotted them and immediately swam over with a group of others, forming a protective circle around them.

"Daegon! Yeh're alive! We thought we'd lost yeh!"

"Aye, yeh nearly did, old friend."

They had no time to speak more, as they came under attack by several naga, who tried their hardest to hit them. One of the shaman was hit, but Faith caught him as he fell through the water.

"We should get out of here!" she said.

"Righ' yeh are!"

They began to move away from the battle and were quickly joined by other members of the Earthen Ring. A tauren found himself close to her and put an arm around her, "You are injured," he said.

"Oh, it's not bad, thank you," she replied in Taur-ahe.

"Our cave is not far. We have turtles who can take us to safety before the naga follow us."

Faith nodded and let the group lead her and Daegon towards a large cave that was within view of the naga settlement. The cave, in large contrast to the place Thressa had kept her prisoner in, was airy, with a large bonfire that lit its walls. Several makeshift beds had been placed on the floor, and shelves along the wall were stocked with fresh fish.

"We can patch up the wounded for now, and take them away. We have reinforcements coming to keep the naga at bay. They will fight while we take you all to safety."

The one who had spoken was a Broken of imposing stature. By the way he spoke, Faith took him to be from Hellfire Peninsula, and could scarcely fathom him being this far away from home.

"Thank you for coming to our aid," she told him.

He nodded to her and helped her sit on one of the beds, "I heard one of the naga call you Blackfire. Is that true? That is who you are?"

"Yes. I'm Faith Everstone. It's nice to meet you, master shaman."

"Obandu is my name," he said. "We had all heard that you had been killed."

"Yes, that's what Daegon told me a few days ago. I've been held captive by the naga ever since my ship sank."

"But yeh only arrived in the village a week ago, lassie," said Daegon. "Where did that naga hold you before then?"

"In a cave somewhere, not too far from where  _The Immortal Coil_  sank."

"We need to alert our people that she's alive," said one of the tauren. "Our chieftain held a ceremony for her after the memorial in Undercity."

Obandu nodded, "Unfortunately, it's not easy for us to communicate with people on the surface. But we will find a way. For now, our priority is to get everyone to safety."

They did just that a few minutes later, as sea turtles and seahorses suddenly appeared with another group of shaman from the Earthen Ring. Amongst them, Faith was very surprised to find the captain of the  _Immortal Coil_ , who was overjoyed to see her.

"We feared the worst, Major!" he told her. "I can't believe you've been alive all this time!"

"It takes more than a few naga and an underwater monster to kill me, Captain," she told him with a smile. She went to where a dark blue seahorse was patiently waiting, and stroked it gently. She had never been so close to that kind of creature before, and had no idea what to expect when riding it. She spoke to it quietly, letting it get used to her, although there was precious little time to do this. "You're a lovely creature, aren't you?" she said, running her hand over its neck.

The seahorse responded by nudging her hand.

"You have a way with creatures," said Obandu.

"I used to know a few rangers of Silvermoon. They taught me a lot about animals, even though we didn't have sea creatures such as these." She climbed onto the seahorse's back, finding that it was quite comfortable, even though she felt like she was going to slide off at any moment.

"Just hold on tight. This girl won't leave you behind if you fall, you don't have to worry."

"So, you're a girl," said Faith. She leaned closer to her ear, "We'll talk later," she whispered.

The seahorse made a strange sound that was a little like an underwater whinny, and began to follow the other seahorses and turtles who were making their way towards safety.

The ride was strange, Faith had to admit. The seahorse traveled fast, and it took a while for her stomach to get used to her movements, but it was better than swimming the whole way, which would have taken much longer.

They moved away from the naga-infested coral reefs and into a landscape that seemed barren by comparison. They were in open water, with nothing but sand plains as far as Faith could see. After a couple of hours of this, they saw a large rock protruding from the ground, and going straight up to the surface.

"We call it the Devil's Rock," said one of the shaman. "That's because it's the only formation of its kind around here, and trying to get to the surface around it would be suicidal because of the sharks above." He pointed to an area above them, and sure enough, Faith saw several sharks swimming around, apparently feasting on some animal who had been dragged into the water.

"But it's safe," Obandu told her. "The naga don't come all the way out here, and we're able to catch plenty of fish for food."

"There's a cave here?" wondered Faith.

"Yes, right over there."

It took a few moments for Faith to see it, but once she got closer, she saw an opening within the rock. It seemed to swallow her whole, and for several seconds, she could see absolutely nothing in the darkness until they emerged into the cave.

"My goodness!" she cried.

The cave was much bigger than she thought it would have been. It wasn't entirely natural; it was obvious that the shaman had enhanced it somehow, adding torches here and there that made it seem bigger than it actually was.

But what had made her cry out had been the crystal formations within the cave. Reflecting the firelight, they looked like little jewels nestled within the black rock.

Countless stalactites and stalagmites dotted the cave, making for handy places to hang hammocks. Obandu helped her into one as soon as he could, and then set about trying to heal her. "What exactly did you do to your back?" he asked.

"According to Thressa, the naga who kidnapped me, I broke it. I think something fell on me before the ship sank, but I really can't be sure." She sighed, "The naga in that village also tortured me for a while." She shrugged, "It was no big deal."

"Torture is no big deal to you?"

"Not after I've been shown the hospitality of the Scourge. You can ask Daegon about that, he'll tell you what it was like last time we saw each other."

Daegon shuddered as he took the hammock next to hers, "I'd rather not think abou' it, to be honest."

Faith didn't smile, closing her eyes as Obandu performed a bit of magic on her back.

"This will take some time to heal fully, and I'm not even sure that I would be able to take care of it on my own. You need the Dalaran healers."

"It's a little difficult for me to go to Dalaran, I'm afraid. Thressa put a silencing spell on us to keep us from doing magic. We're a little stuck right now."

"We can get rid of that spell. If you could create a portal to Dalaran, we would be most grateful, as it would be a big help. We haven't been able to find any mages here."

"I'm not sure that a portal would hold down here," Faith told him. "I'll need to be on the surface. But I can certainly try, once I get a little stronger."


	20. Chapter 20

_The land was on fire. Dozens of creatures lay dead, their charred remains still smoking on the burning ground. The few living things that remained tried to wake up their fallen companions, but to no avail. They ran away. A figure in a black cloak appeared, chanting in an old language, the language of the dead. A scorched skeleton rose from the ashes, beginning to shamble around, trying to find something to kill. But nothing else lived in the fiery plain that had once been a dense forest. It turned around, a burning red light glowing deep inside its undead sockets._

Faith awoke with a start, clutching a small dagger in her hand. She didn't scream, but she felt her heart racing in her chest. A fine sweat coated her forehead. She swallowed, looking at the crystals above her head. She hadn't had a dream like that in a while.

Several feet away from her, Obandu was talking quietly to some of the members of the Earthen Ring. If they heard Faith waking up, they showed no indication of it.

She started thinking about the dream. Or the nightmare, as it had been. She recognized the place, although she'd only been there briefly while she'd been in Northrend. Grizzly Hills. But why would they be on fire, with a necromancer raising the dead? Most of the Scourge had been obliterated, as far as she knew. Of course, there were still pockets of resistance, people who refused to accept that Arthas was truly dead.

_You can't think about that now. You have more immediate problems to tend to._

That was true. For the past few days, she had been busy healing. It was a slow process, with the shaman doing everything they could to take care of her, but it wasn't enough. She was feeling better, but she knew that the one shaman who could help her was Thrall. Unfortunately, he wasn't anywhere close to her at that moment. As a matter of fact, she had no clear idea of where he really was. Somewhere on the elemental plane, probably.

Obandu had also managed to lift the spell Thressa had put on her to keep her from doing magic. As soon as she'd felt herself capable of casting again, she began performing quick spells, getting rid of the humidity in the cave, conjuring little balls of light that floated on the ceiling to give them more visibility, and mending their clothes with the wave of a hand. She hadn't realized how much she had missed her magic until that very moment.

But the shaman wouldn't allow her to do anything else, preferring to have her rest so that she could save her strength because she still felt very weak. And because she was inactive, she had time to think.

She thought about Sylvanas and how she had left things with her. She thought about the way they had been before she had died, and berated herself for not having done something sooner about the way she'd felt about her.

"Yeh'll have time to tell her how yeh feel when yeh see her again," said Daegon. "Because yeh will see her again, yeh realize."

Faith smiled, "I know that I'll see her again. I just don't know whether she'll want to see me. We were so angry with each other, and I don't even remember why now."

"Yeh know why. I hear yeh talking about it in yer sleep."

"All right, I do know why. But it doesn't seem as important now. She… she killed herself and left me alone, but she came back. She says she came back for me, but I have no way of verifying that."

"Maybe it's the truth. Maybe she really did come back for yeh."

"Maybe."

She had spoken to Daegon about Sylvanas for the past couple of days. Daegon, understanding that she needed to talk about the relationship, didn't discourage her from discussing her feelings, although it was probably trying for him. His wife had been killed in one of the earthquakes that had rocked Dun Morogh.

The following day, Obandu came to tell them that the naga were stirring.

"We didn't kill them all," he said. "Some of them swam away and apparently found some friends. Our scouts report that there's a large contingent of naga amassing not far from here, preparing an attack. They look to have very skilled soldiers in their ranks."

Faith got to her feet and stretched out her hand towards the fire, which suddenly changed colors and grew in size, "And you have veterans of Northrend fighting at your side. I think that they won't find it so easy to subdue us when we can use our full powers."

"We need help, Faith. There aren't enough of us here to fight all of them."

"How many naga are we talking about?"

"A thousand, at least."

She blinked. A thousand naga? "Where in the world did they get so many forces?"

"All over the place, apparently," said one of the tauren. "They have spear launchers. We're going to be in trouble."

"Faith, you need to get to the surface and summon reinforcements."

"How? I can't just create a portal on a rock and hope that people won't fall into that nest of sharks up there! And I told you, I don't think this cave can hold a portal. The entire rock could collapse."

But seeing the despair on their faces, she agreed to try. Maybe she'd be able to find a way to get help to the people who had rescued her.

"I'll come with yeh, lassie," said Daegon. "They'll need someone to help them breathe underwater once they arrive. And yeh'll need help against the sharks."

Faith nodded, and together, they got out of the cave, Faith performing a spell on them to keep their clothes dry while they swam to the surface.

It was anything but easy. For a while, they had no problem at all, but it didn't take long for the sharks to develop an interest in them. They were bigger than they had seemed, with wickedly sharp teeth, but they weren't mean, just hungry. And there were a lot of them, more than Faith and Daegon could conceivably fight at the same time.

"What do yeh want to do?" asked the dwarf.

"Come closer to me," she told him, grabbing his hand and pulling him to her. Murmuring a few words, she created a thick barrier of ice around the two of them so that they could ascend to the surface without having to fight the creatures, but several times, the barrier cracked, forcing her to send out jets of frost so that they would leave them alone.

However, one particular shark refused to leave, and both of them had no choice but to fight. Since frost didn't seem to do the trick, Faith used fire. Underwater, the spell came out as searing water that hit the shark on the nose. Daegon, for his part, used a mace he had in his hands to hit the creature over the head so hard that blood gushed out of the wound, staining the water red.

"Get out of the way!" cried Faith.

As soon as the other sharks smelled the blood, they rushed towards the injured predator, who had no chance to defend itself. It gave Faith and Daegon the time they needed to reach the surface, panting with the effort.

Faith hoisted herself onto the rock with trembling arms while her companion did the same. The area they were on was barely big enough to hold the two of them.

"How am I supposed to hold a portal here?" she asked. There didn't seem to be a surface big enough for what she needed. She took a minute to catch her breath, after which she began to examine the rock, but it had been aptly named. The Devil's Rock had nothing on it save for a bit of seaweed and mollusks clinging to it just beneath the surface of the water. "If I make a portal, it'll be one-way. Nobody will be able to come over unless they jump directly into the water."

"With the sharks," said Daegon grimly. "Doesn' look good, does it?"

With a shake of her head, Faith looked around, trying to find any kind of landmass on the horizon, but there was nothing. As far as she could see, there was only ocean surrounding them and nothing else. The rock they were on was more like a mountain peak, rising over a hundred feet into the air. "Is there anything you can do?"

"Yeh mean manipulate this rock so that it turns itself into a shelf of some kind? I cannot promise to make it, lassie."

"Let's see what you can manage. If we could have enough space to have at least two other people, it would be easier. I'd be able to send people in three at a time, and it might be enough to keep whoever's here from getting killed." She glanced at the water, seeing the sharks' fins gracefully moving around as the fish swam in circles.

"Maybe we should see if there's anything on the other side of the rock that could serve yeh better."

Faith just pointed to the sharks in the water. She wasn't swimming in that again unless she had to. "You want to try climbing?"

"Can yeh teleport yerself up there?"

"Teleport to the top of that peak… I don't know if that's advisable." She gave a sigh, "I'll try to climb, but if I fall in the water, I'm counting on you to save my life."

"No pressure then," said Daegon, laughing a little.

She started to hike up the rock, trying to find enough places to get a hold so that she wouldn't slip. She got lucky, and after five minutes, had climbed a little over fifteen feet, using magic to keep herself steady. It was then that she saw something on the horizon, very faint, but noticeable when the clouds dispersed and the sun came out in all its glory.

"Land!" she cried. "There's land over there!"

"Kin yer recognize it?" called Daegon up to her.

She couldn't. It was so far away that she couldn't even tell whether she was looking at Kalimdor or the Eastern Kingdoms. But it was good to know that land wasn't completely unreachable.

The rock was getting steeper and steeper. She wouldn't be able to climb it much longer, so she looked around to see whether there was any kind of area that could hold several people at once. "Oh!"

She went back to Daegon, who had heard her cry and was watching her expectantly.

"Did yeh find something, lassie?"

"I did! It's almost impossible to get to if we climb, but there's some kind of black beach that's perfect for what we need."

"And how do we get there?"

"We'll have to swim for it. Fast. It's around that bend over there," she pointed towards the side of the rock. "There's another bend there, and it's nestled right between them. It's not big, but I reckon a small boat could dock on that beach."

"So yeh want us to swim with sharks again. I thought yeh didn't want ter?"

"I changed my mind. Maybe they've become friendly since we got here."

They hadn't. If anything, the sharks had turned more aggressive, as they'd targeted them as a source of food. Less than twelve seconds into the water, Faith cried out as one of them grazed her arm. It would have bitten it right off had her ice barrier not kept it at bay. Daegon was luckier. He swam swiftly, occasionally using a spell to freeze the sharks where they were.

"Oh, this is ridiculous!" hissed Faith. She turned to face the latest predator, whose mouth looked gargantuan, and cast her black fire.

The shark stopped as if it had hit an invisible wall. The water around it had turned white with searing heat. On the surface, the salty liquid boiled, and Faith quickly had to move away to keep from burning herself.

"What was  _that_?" cried Daegon.

"My black fire… underwater. I didn't think it would work like that."

"And here I thought the naga had strong underwater spells. That's something else, Faith!"

They finally reached the beach, which was covered in grainy black sand. "It's perfect," she said. "We could even build something here."

"Aye, we could. Nice find, lassie."

She sat down, conjuring a bit of water for her and Daegon to drink, along with a loaf of bread. "I need to rest before I can summon a portal. Mine only last about ten minutes, so I won't have a lot of time. I'll have to get mages to quickly plot the coordinates of this rock, or we won't be able to get back here."

A few minutes passed before Faith felt refreshed enough to begin the creation of a portal. She started to chant, and the air around her blurred with arcane energies that swirled and sparkled until finally, she saw the outline of Dalaran.

"Go on, Daegon," she told him.

"But…"

"Go on! If the portal closes, I can reopen it from here. But if it closes while I'm in Dalaran, you could be stuck here for a very long time."

Daegon quickly jumped through the portal, leaving Faith where she was. He wasn't gone long. A few minutes later, he reappeared with two men who wore the robes of the Kirin Tor.

"What is this place?" they asked.

"The realm of the naga. You'll find them about a hundred feet below the surface of the water, along with members of the Earthen Ring." She quickly explained the situation, learning that the two men were brothers, apprentices who had joined the order a mere two months previously.

"What would you like us to do?"

"Can you create portals?" she asked them.

"Yes. Large ones when it's the two of us."

"Good. Daegon, go back to Dalaran and get more mages. Tell them I sent you. Now, please, go."

"Yeh don't wanna go?"

"Of course I do, but I'm not about to let two apprentices stay here on their own. Go quickly before this one closes."

Daegon disappeared through the portal again. The two apprentices stared at Faith, "Who are you?" they asked.

"Faith Everstone. It's nice to meet you."

"My name is Darryn Wolfe," said the first man. "This is my twin brother Hugho."

"We're new to the craft," said Hugho. He had a scar on his forehead, which was the only way to distinguish him from his brother. Both of them were of medium height, with curly blond hair and a goatee. Their eyes were a velvety brown, reminding Faith of chocolate cream. They looked to be in their mid-twenties, young, but not teenagers.

"You can't be that new if you can already create portals," she said.

"No. What I mean to say is that we're new to the Kirin Tor. We were just regular mages in our town, and then Deathwing came and destroyed it."

"I'm sorry," she said.

Darryn was looking at her carefully, "Wait a minute, you're  _the_  Faith Everstone? The girl they have a memorial of in Dalaran?"

"They have a memorial for me in Dalaran?"

"Yes… everyone thought you were dead."

"Not dead, just… held captive."

Her portal went out, and the two brothers quickly worked on opening a new one. Almost as soon as it was created, Daegon stepped through it, bringing with him someone Faith knew very well.

"Master Krasus!" she cried.

Krasus stared at her for what seemed like an hour, but was really a few seconds. Without a word, he pulled her closer, giving her a long hug.

"Thank the Aspects you're alive, Faith…"

Faith smiled and gently disengaged herself from the dragon mage. "I'd love to have a long reunion, Krasus, I really would, but our friends need some serious help down there."

Krasus nodded, "Other mages are on their way. They're bringing flyers so that we can map this area. Where in the world are we?"

"We're definitely on Azeroth," joked Faith. "I think we're close to the Eastern Kingdoms, but I really couldn't tell you where."

More people began to come through the portal, which Krasus helped to reinforce. When Archmage Modera appeared, Faith bowed to her.

"My goodness, Faith, we thought that Daegon was hallucinating when he said you were alive."

"I'm glad you came to investigate despite your misgivings, archmage."

Modera nodded, finding the nearest gryphon and climbing onto it. A moment later, she and four others took off, flying twice around the island before making their way towards the landmass Faith had seen on her climb.

"It's lucky you found this place," said Krasus. "We'll be able to have a minor base here." He nodded towards three mages who were already putting up magical wards around the small beach. "How many naga are there?"

"According to the scouts, one thousand."

Krasus whistled, "You guys must have done something to tick them off…"

"Sure we did. We escaped and killed one of their leaders."

He nodded, "All right. I'm going to want you to go to Dalaran and get yourself healed. You don't look like you're in any condition to battle anybody."

"I'm not going to leave the people who saved me alone to battle. Nor you, Krasus. I'm fighting alongside you."

Krasus tried to protest, but Faith put a hand over his mouth.

"No, Krasus."

"Ah, you know better than to argue with her when she's like this, my friend."

Faith turned around. "Rhonin!"

"Hi, Faith," he said. "You have no idea how good it is to know that you're all right." He pulled her into a hug. "Honestly. What were you thinking scaring us like that?"

"Blame Garrosh. He's the one who sent me here. All I did was follow orders."

"Right, of course. And that little mishap with Sylvanas?"

"You mean the part where she killed herself? Well, you can blame her for that. You couldn't expect me to just take it, could you?"

"You're still mad at her?"

Faith shook her head, "No, I'm not. Not really, anyway. I still can't believe that she did it, but…"

"Yes, she did. I saw her in Undercity when she had the memorial for you, Faith. It was terrible to see her that way. Not that it's a pleasure to see her in general because it brings up very bad memories, but to feel her grief for you… she didn't cry, but she didn't do much of anything else either. She stared at your tombstone as though looking at it hard enough could bring you back."

"I'm sure she's taken another lover by now," whispered Faith, not wanting to think about Sylvanas grieving for her.

"Don't be silly," said Krasus. "She laid waste to Gilneas in her grief for you. According to reports we've heard, she killed Prince Liam Greymane when she took the city."

"She what?" Faith stared at Krasus incredulously.

"We don't have much time to discuss it. But you need to go home. She'll be overjoyed to see you."

Faith was too busy trying to digest the fact that Sylvanas had killed the prince of Gilneas to notice Archmage Modera returning. She barely heard her say that they were close to the shores of Dun Morogh, which gave them a good basis for a semi-permanent portal.

"Once we have everyone clear of this place, we'll be able to close it so that the naga don't take advantage of it. But in the meantime, I'll alert the rest of the Council about this and send you more people. Is this all the space we have to work with?"

"You saw this place from the air, you tell us."

"Then we'll get some of the dwarves to help us with building something that will last a while here. It could be useful. Maybe a couple of towers and the like."

"They'll have to be high."

"And we can build something over the water as well to give us more space. Are you with us, Major Everstone?"

Faith came out of her reverie with a start, "Yes, Archmage, I'm with you."

"Good, then come back with me a while. You can tell us exactly what we need."

Faith followed her through the portal, breathing a sigh of relief when she stepped into Dalaran. Her head began to spin, and without exactly knowing how it happened, she fell to the ground, the strength all but sapped out of her.

She glared at the archmage, "What did you just do to me?"

"You  _need_  to rest, Faith. I know you want to help your friends, but you can't fight a battle in this condition. You should take a look at yourself. You can't even fully stand up straight because of your back. Daegon told us that it was broken when your ship went down."

"I've fought battles with worse injuries before."

"Yes, because you had no choice. You have a choice now, and I'm making it for you." She helped Faith stand, leading her to the Dalaran clinic where a small gnome with red and blue hair was waiting.

"Harlee, is that you?" asked Faith.

"Yes, Major! Now, what have you done to yourself this time?"

"I haven't done anything…"

"Of course not. And I've never had to heal you before. Come in, come in. Shall we call Lady Sylvanas?"

"No!"

"Faith, you –."

"No. I'll go back to Undercity when I feel ready for it. Right now, I'm just not ready to see Sylvanas again."

"You must tell her that you're alive."

"I will, but please allow me to do this in my own time. I'll compromise and let you tell Vereesa and the boys if you'd like."

"Done." Archmage Modera quickly left the clinic while Faith settled in. She was in no mood to stay inactive again after the time she had spent in the caves, but Harlee wouldn't take no for an answer, and quickly gave her a sleeping potion so that she would stay still while she worked on her.

The last thing Faith saw in her mind as she drifted off was Sylvanas. The image, taken from when she'd been alive, lulled her to oblivion, a small smile on her face as she closed her eyes.


	21. Chapter 21

Sylvanas had spent most of the day in Faith's chambers. She had cleaned up a little, and lain in her bed, doing nothing but trying to feel her presence, but there was nothing to be felt. It was as though Faith's very essence had leeched out of the room when she had left.

_And now she's never coming back. You're never going to be with her again._

"It's just as well," she said to the room. She would have probably fought her tooth and nail over Gilneas, and it wouldn't have been pretty. Now, she had time to focus on the Western Plaguelands.

"The druids have done an amazing job there, I have to say," Rotvine told her when she made her way back to the throne room.

"Did we want that?" asked Sylvanas.

"We didn't. Faith did. Anyway, most of the Scourge has retreated into Andorhal or the Eastern Plaguelands, as far as I can tell. Although there might be small pockets still left in your homeland."

"There's not much left for us to do then, is there? Except take Andorhal. It'll give us a better foothold in Lordaeron."

"That won't be easy, though. The Scourge won't let that city go without a fight. And neither will the Alliance."

"The Alliance? What have they got to do with anything?"

"I heard that they have a force that's ready to move there under the command of Thassarian."

Sylvanas groaned, "Don't tell me that we're going to have to work with the Knights of the Ebon Blade. I was hoping to never do that again."

"Koltira Deathweaver would be a good commander there," said Rotvine slowly. He knew that there was only one person who could effectively lead them all against the Scourge, but he didn't want to mention Faith's name as it was painful for both of them.

Sylvanas seemed to be thinking along the same lines. "I suppose someone has to lead the assault if it can't be her. Fine. Let's send him there and see what he can do. I'll want you at the Bulwark, it's the closest camp we have to the Plaguelands, and it's relatively safe. You can move to Andorhal later on."

Rotvine gave a nod, "Very well, my queen. I will send part of the Magi Corps along with Koltira, as they have more experience than most against the Scourge."

Trusting his judgment, Sylvanas left him to it.

_I wish you were here, Faith. I need you. I should have never left you, nor should I have let you go._

She found herself in the Ruins of Lordaeron, walking towards the stables. A hawkstrider, golden in color, poked its head out of one of the stalls, looking hopeful. But when it saw that it was only Sylvanas, its head drooped.

"You miss her too, don't you, Lady?" she asked, rubbing a hand over the beast's neck. Lady trembled slightly – she'd never liked Sylvanas touching her – but stayed still. She made a sound of assent.

"I wish I could bring her back, you know. I never meant to cause her that much pain. I guess I was just caught up in whatever I was feeling, and it wasn't enough to remind myself that I still had someone to live for. Now I'll never get to tell her that I love her."

Lady's cry was mournful. She allowed Sylvanas to brush her feathers, keeping her head down and feeling Sylvanas' pain. But the creature sensed that Faith was alive, and not too far away from them.

Five days had passed since she had arrived in Dalaran. By her estimation, she had been away from Undercity for three months.

_And for over two months, Sylvanas has thought that you were dead_ , she said to herself.  _How would you feel if that were you?_

She knew she had to go home, if only to see Sylvanas one more time. If things didn't work out between them because of this… at least she would know.

But she still wasn't fully healed. Harlee had told her that her back had healed in a weird way, and she'd had to fracture it again in order to set it right. She was wearing a corset now, a heavy black one that made it difficult for her to breathe. On the plus side, her chest was a lot bigger because of it, and she couldn't help but laugh at the thought of what Sylvanas would say if she'd seen her wearing it.

"You'll be able to take the corset off in a week," said Harlee. "Then you'll be able to leave."

"Good. Thanks, Harlee."

"Where will you go?"

"Hearthglen for a bit, I think. I hear that the Scourge is still active in the Plaguelands, and I'd like to do something about it if I can."

"Sounds like a good plan. What does Vereesa think about you not talking to Sylvanas about being alive?"

Faith shrugged. Vereesa had been ecstatic to see her alive, although that had been nothing compared to the way the twins had reacted. They had jumped on her and covered her in kisses, refusing to let her go for nearly an hour. "She didn't really say anything about it, to be honest."

"You don't think she has an opinion about it?"

"I'm sure she does, but she can't say anything to me. She hasn't spoken face-to-face with Sylvanas since before she died. Every time they see each other, they stare in opposite directions. It's like Vereesa is afraid to let herself love her sister."

"Isn't that what you're afraid of? That you still love Sylvanas even after what she did?"

"Of course I still love Sylvanas. That was never in question, Harlee."

"I'm sorry, Faith, I know it's not my place to give you advice on what to do with her."

A sigh, "Sylvanas and I have always had a complicated relationship. I guess it didn't have to be before, but it's definitely tricky now."

She closed her eyes for a bit, meaning to take a nap, but found it impossible to sleep. Just as she was deciding that it would be best to walk around a little, she felt a presence next to her. It was Krasus, and he smiled down at her, accompanied by Alexstrasza.

"Master Krasus," she said. "Alexstrasza… my apologies, let me get up…"

"No, Faith, don't be silly, stay in bed." Alexstrasza put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "You don't have long to recover, and from what I know of you, as soon as you get better, you're going to go right back into battle."

Faith smiled, "If that's the way my path takes me, I suppose you're right."

"Will your battles take you home?"

"Home? My home is gone."

"To Undercity."

"Everyone keeps asking me whether I'm going to go back to Undercity. Are you also of the opinion that I should go back as though nothing had happened?"

Alexstrasza seemed to look through her. "I believe that you and Sylvanas have a profound relationship that cannot end this way. You love each other too much to let something like this break you apart."

"Do you think she'll take me back?"

"Faith, you died. All of us thought you were dead. I think that whatever happened between you will go out the window as soon as she sees you again. And she loves you, she really does."

Faith nodded, "I know… even if she doesn't show it the way I want her to, I know she loves me."

"I've come here to give you a gift," said the dragon aspect.

"Queen Alexstrasza… I am honored, but you do not need to do that."

"Of course I do. You have not had much recognition for everything that you did against the Scourge. Had it not been for your actions, things might have been a lot worse."

With a gentle shake of her head, Faith looked up at the Life-Binder, "I was never alone when I fought the Scourge. My successes against them belong to my companions as well."

"That is true, but this gift is for you, my child." Alexstrasza put a hand on her back, and Faith felt spine suddenly healing. Pain she had felt for years disappeared, driven out by a burst of magic so intense that it left Faith speechless. She stared at the dragon queen incredulously, not believing herself worthy of such a gift. "Can you stand?"

Faith nodded, getting to her feet. She physically felt better than she had in years. The Aspect of Life had gotten rid of every single ache and pain she'd ever felt. Even the small ache she sometimes felt in her wrist after a hard day of spellcasting was completely gone.

"This will not last forever. I have not rendered you invincible by any means."

"You've just completely healed all of me, Queen Alexstrasza… I don't know what to say…"

Alexstrasza smiled, "You can thank me by going home. I can feel your love for your queen burning bright. I am the Aspect of Life, Faith. Your love for Sylvanas may not create new life as such, but you give new life to the people around you. Many of them are inspired by the love you two share, even though they would never admit to it."

"Is there any way I can bring her back to life?" asked Faith suddenly.

Krasus made a small sound in the back of his throat.

"No, my child," said Alexstrasza quietly. "She will never be back to the way she was before. I know you long for that time, for a time where the two of you could have been married. She longs for it too."

Did she? Faith's eyes were full of tears. "She's never really told me that."

"No, because she doesn't want to hurt you by mentioning it." Krasus took her hand, "I can't imagine how difficult this has been for you. But you have the strength to be with her for as long as you both shall live, and you should take that opportunity. Go home, and be with her. Things will fall into place naturally."

Faith had no way of knowing whether what Krasus was telling her was true, but the confidence the two dragons had in her was enough to get her to leave Dalaran after a quick goodbye to everyone.

Obandu bade her farewell with Daegon, both of whom were doing great, as the Kirin Tor had gotten them out of Vashj'ir just before the naga had attacked, much to their frustration.

"I would have liked ter give them a piece of my mind," said Daegon. "Although I migh' still get ter do that. We'll be goin' back as soon as we have enough forces. There are still people fighting down there."

Faith nodded, "Maybe I'll be able to join you. Assuming I manage to leave Undercity again, which I can't be sure will happen. It'll depend on Sylvanas' mood."

Shaking her friends' hands, she promised to see them soon, and began to create a portal.

She didn't go directly to Undercity. Her instincts told her to go to Hearthglen, and she listened to them, landing in the Argent Crusade city as quietly as a sparrow. Nobody paid her the slightest attention until she crossed paths with someone she knew.

"By the Light!"

She froze.

"No, it can't be… you're supposed to be dead…" Tirion began to laugh, grinning at her. "You're going to have to explain to me how you got out of that!"

Faith smiled back at him, accepting his hug, "I wish I could. I came here because my instincts told me to. Is something happening?"

"Oh, you could say that, yes. Let's see. The Forsaken and the Alliance are fighting the Scourge at Andorhal, and they're fighting each other too, from what I can gather."

"Sounds fantastic…"

"You don't know the half of it. I wish I had time to spare in order to help them, but we've had some issues here with the Twilight's Hammer as well. It hasn't been easy. And let's not even go through what's happening in the Eastern Plaguelands, because that's worse."

"So, even though Arthas is dead, it's business as usual with the independent factions of the Scourge?"

"You've got it."

"And the Twilight's Hammer too. We've got our work cut out for us, but I hope you don't mind if I go to Andorhal. I can't leave the Forsaken alone."

"I understand," said Tirion. "Take a force with you. There's a lot of Scourge in Andorhal, and I'm sure that you'll be able to do a lot of good for your people."

Faith nodded, "Thank you, Tirion. I'd be happy to take people with me." She moved around Hearthglen, asking for recruits among the people there. As soon as word got out that she was there, dozens of Argent Crusade soldiers arrived to pledge their support so that, very quickly, she had forty people ready and willing to go with her to Andorhal.

The Western Plaguelands looked very different than they had the last time she had been there. A lot of the land was green again, thanks to the tremendous work put forth by the Cenarion Circle and the Argent Crusade. There were still some patches of corruption, but those areas were few and far between, from what she could tell.

They met a few patrollers on the way, but the roads were clear for them, for the most part. A few plagued wolves tried to chase them, but Faith incinerated them with a spell, sending them careening into the few trees that hadn't fully been cleansed.

After about an hour of hard riding, they arrived in an area Faith had never seen before, but had heard of. The Mender's Stead, a camp set up by the people who were attempting to cleanse the Plaguelands.

They left their horses there, finding it better not to take them to Andorhal. They met several druids of the Cenarion Circle, including a worgen, who stayed away from Faith. The newest members of the Alliance had absolutely no love for her, nor she for them. She had heard about Sylvanas' invasion of Gilneas having caused the worgen to join the Alliance, something nobody had counted upon.

"Be careful," said one of the druids to her. "There are spiders and Scourge close to Andorhal."

Faith nodded, "Thank you."

"The city is split into two, so you're going to want to go through the Forsaken part of it."

"We'll go in whichever way we can," said Faith, indicating the force with her. She shook the druid's hand and quickly moved on, keeping her eyes on the ruins of Andorhal. Smoke was rising from a few areas there, testifying to the fact that the battle was heavy.

It didn't take them long to reach the fallen city. Finding a barricade that was probably meant to keep the wildlife out, they climbed over it to a spectacle that would have sent even the most hardened warrior running in the opposite direction.

Abominations oozed on the ground, leaving viscera wherever they walked, and a smell so pungent that even Faith gagged a little. Walking skeletons in the hundreds swarmed out of one of the towers, annihilating brave guards of both the Horde and the Alliance in seconds.

Immediately before them, scourged sorcerers were easily reanimating corpses to use against the forces who were trying to retake the city. It was towards those necromancers that Faith began to run.

Magic swirled around her, crackling blue, as she began to cast a spell that hit the nearest sorcerer in the chest. It was enough to halt its spell, and it turned to Faith, chanting already. Faith didn't give the creature any time to cast. A second later, black fire erupted around it, consuming it quickly.

The fire spread, catching dead twigs that were on the ground, and Faith used it to her advantage, weaving magic to channel the black flames into a vortex that she sent towards an abomination who seemed to melt in the fire.

They advanced together, hitting the soldiers of the Scourge in every way they could. People began to turn towards them, and Faith started hearing the word  _Blackfire_.

"Faith!"

"Major Everstone!"

"By the Sunwell, it's Faith!"

Her name was shouted from every side as they reached the Forsaken gates, and Koltira Deathweaver walked towards them, staring at Faith with his mouth open. "I don't believe it. Faith Everstone…"

"It's good to see you, Koltira," said Faith, shaking his gauntleted hand.

He was unable to say anything else, as someone made a strangled sound somewhere to his left. Faith turned her head to see Rotvine there, looking absolutely stunned. He was completely still.

He took a step towards her, then another. Reaching her, he placed a skeletal hand on her face. "It's really you…" he whispered. "Faith… you're alive…"

"Hi, Carrick," she told him quietly. Tears pooled in her eyes as she hugged his bony frame.

"You're alive… you're here…"

"Yes, Carrick, I'm here. I didn't die."

"Thank the Dark Lady, Faith."

He released her and looked at her, as someone mentioned that word needed to be sent to Undercity right away.

"When? How?"

Faith squeezed his hand, "I don't really have time to get into it now." She gestured towards the city, "What's been happening here?"

"Same shit, different day," he said, his eyes never leaving her face. "You brought friends?"

"From the Argent Crusade. I heard that you guys needed some help, and these guys volunteered to come with me here." She looked at them, realizing only now that all of them were members of the Horde, which was probably why they had all been allowed to enter the Forsaken area of Andorhal.

"Where do you need us?"

"There's a lich we need to kill."

"Well, of course there's a lich you need to kill. There's always a lich you need to kill." She winked, "Who is he?"

"Araj the Summoner."

"Araj… he used to run Scholomance, didn't he?" Faith thought for a moment, looking at the soldiers around her, "Are you guys up for it?" she asked them.

They all nodded grimly.

"So are we, Major!" cried several other voice.

Faith grinned, "The First Magi Corps. I knew you would all be here." She hugged a few of them, "Good. He won't be easy to kill, though, so we should go in waves. He'll probably have some friends around him, so I'll want a team to take care of them."

"We'll do that," said the Argent Crusade soldiers. "Those of you who are mages should take care of the lich, it's your specialty, isn't it?"

"Something like that," said Rotvine. "It'll be just like old times."

Like old times indeed. The lich at first thought that only ten people were coming to attack it. It brought out a horde of assailants, which was swiftly cut down by the Argent Crusade soldiers. A little surprised, Araj turned towards Faith, who smiled grimly.

"We did not kill Arthas to allow you and your undead destroy the peace we built," she said. She began to cast a spell, which Araj countered easily enough. But he hadn't counted on another fifteen mages casting fire spells at him. And when Faith slowly turned the fire from orange to black, Araj emitted a screech that sounded eerily like a banshee's wail.

"Don't forget his phylactery," said Rotvine once Araj's remains lay smoking on the ground.

"I've got it," said Faith. She grabbed her spellblade, a new weapon that Krasus had given her in Dalaran, and shattered the container. A venomous yellow smoke puffed out of it, dissipating in the air.

"You have a good team, Koltira," said a voice that everyone recognized as belonging to Thassarian, the human death knight.

"Thank you," said Koltira, who had joined them. "I didn't think that they would take care of him so quickly."

"We overpowered him, plain and simple," Faith told him. She turned away, meaning to go back towards the Forsaken section of Undercity, but not before she heard Koltira and Thassarian exchanging a few words, stating that their forces would stop fighting each other.

"We're almost done bringing down the Scourge. Araj as the last obstacle," said Koltira. "We might as well have a truce for now."

Faith frowned. "Won't Sylvanas kill him for that?" she whispered to Rotvine.

"If she finds out about it she will, yes."

"And you think she won't find out?"

"Oh, she'll find out."

Koltira jogged over to them, his armor making clanging noises as he moved. "I don't want either of you to say anything about this, do you hear me? You're both sworn to silence."

"It would be best if you attacked the Alliance now, before they make their move against us. You know they will."

"No, Rotvine. I told Thassarian I wouldn't, and I'm not going to break my promise."

"I wouldn't want to be you when Sylvanas finds out what you've done."

"She won't find out. Actually, Faith, I need you to do me a favor, if you don't mind."

"Sure."

"There's a new recruit who's cowering in the inn. Her name is Lindsay Ravensun," he said. "She was supposed to come and help out, but I haven't seen her since the battle began. Please bring her over here."

"Bring her over?" said Faith, surprised.

"She shouldn't have been cowering like that. Sylvanas sent her to help us, and she's done absolutely nothing."

"So you want me to… force her to fight?"

"Exactly."

Faith shrugged and made her way toward the inn. It was uncommon for Forsaken to not show up in a battle, especially when Sylvanas had sent them. Perhaps this new recruit was a little too inexperienced to fight the Scourge. She walked down the stairs and into the basement of the inn, finding a Forsaken female who looked very young.

Her heart leapt into her throat.

The girl took two steps towards her, her face registering nothing but shock.  "Faith?" she asked.

"Sylvanas…"


	22. Chapter 22

Sylvanas had thought a lot about what she would say to Faith if she were to see her again. She'd had dozens of conversations with her in her mind. She had imagined the way she would hold her and kiss her, thanking the gods that she was still alive.

She'd hoped that Faith was still alive. She had hoped it, but hadn't truly believed it.

And now, there she was in front of her. Her Faith. Her lover.

She didn't know how long she stayed there staring at her. A while. Faith didn't move, didn't disappear the way she expected her to. She remained where she was, looking a little thinner than usual, but still beautiful, staring right back at her. Neither of them said anything for a long minute.

"Say something," whispered Faith.

Sylvanas shook her head. She couldn't think of anything to tell her, only reaching out a hand, wanting to touch her. Faith extended her own hand until her fingers touched Sylvanas'.

"What happened to you?" asked Sylvanas finally, her voice not quite steady.

Faith told her, quickly, where she had been. "I'll give you more details later."

A nod, "Right. There will be plenty of time later to…"

"Talk," finished Faith, her throat constricted with emotion. She took her hand away, and something seemed to snap inside her. Taking two steps forward, she put her arms around Sylvanas in a tight hug, her body shaking.

"It's okay, baby," said Sylvanas. "It's okay… you're home."

Faith nodded, her eyes shut tightly. "I was afraid I was never going to see you again, Sylvanas…" she whispered.

"I know. I know, Faith." Sylvanas cleared her throat and kissed Faith's forehead, "What have you got to tell me about Andorhal?"

Speaking about the Scourge helped Faith take control of her emotions. She told Sylvanas what had happened, including Koltira's deal with Thassarian.

"Ah. I was wondering whether you were going to tell me about that."

"How in the world did you  _know_?"

"I'm not blind to what goes on outside the Undercity walls. That, and I overheard you."

"How? We were pretty far from the basement of this inn."

"Ah… something happened to me after you left.”

"What?"

"I was murdered."

" _What_?"

"In Gilneas. I'll tell you about it later, but three of the Val'kyr raised me, and in so doing, they… well, I seem to have absorbed some of their powers."

Faith felt stunned. "I leave for a few weeks, and you get killed…"

"I'm back. Again. I could set some kind of record, thrice dead and raised, or something." She wiped a tear from Faith's cheek, "All right, so, the Scourge is out of Andorhal, that's what you're telling me."

"That's what it looks like, yeah."

"Good. Should I assume that you were responsible for it?"

Faith shook her head, "We only came in at the end, but I think we did some good against them."

"But other people were fighting them before you were, yeah, okay." Sylvanas smiled a little, "I'm glad you're home, Faith."

"So am I, Sylvanas."

"You've seen Carrick, right?"

"Yes, I saw him. He was… surprised."

"Surprised, yes, that would be one word for it. He was shattered when he heard about what happened to you."

"You mean when the ship capsized? How did anybody even know about that?"

"A survivor was able to get to us." Sylvanas cleared her throat again and looked towards the basement stairs, "What's that noise?"

"Sounds like fighting," said Faith.

"Go find out and report back to me, will you?"

Faith nodded and left the inn. Almost immediately, she saw what the problem was. Humans were attacking the Forsaken soldiers in Andorhal, attempting to make their way into their section of the city.

"Looks like your little truce with Thassarian was short-lived, Koltira," she told him.

"I can't really blame him. But now I'm wondering what we should do about it."

"Fight back! We can't let them take Andorhal!"

"I thought you were friends with the Alliance."

"Lordaeron belongs to the Forsaken. They died here, and they'll continue to stay here in undeath." She looked around, seeing that the Magi Corps were already there, waiting for her command, "You know what to do," she said, closing her eyes. She hated to have to do that, to fight the Alliance for what was no more than a city in ruins. But she had to.

"You're not coming?"

"I am. Just give me a minute."

Faith quickly went back into the inn, where Sylvanas was waiting for her.

"You're going to have to use the Val'kyr," she said.

"It's nice to see you still don't waste any time with pleasantries when there's something disagreeable to be done," Faith told her.

"I know you have no love for them."

"They brought you back from the dead not once, but twice. I'm grateful to them for that, I suppose. But Sylvanas, for pity's sake, can't you think of something else for them to do? Set them free or something?" She swallowed and shook her head as one of the winged creatures materialized in front of her.

"This is one of the lesser Val'kyr. They were… created by the others. She'll help you in battle."

Faith ran a hand over her eyes, "You and I are going to have a serious conversation about this when all of this is over." She sighed, "I'm assuming you want me to raise the dead with this thing."

"She knows what to do. Just kill the soldiers and she'll do the rest."

 _Titans forgive me for what I'm about to do_ , said Faith to herself. "All right, let's go. Just… try not to let me see you raising them, or I might actually kill you."

"I'll deploy the other Val'kyr around the city. Aradne will be standing guard over everyone."

"The less I know the better, Sylvanas."

"All right. Just… be safe."

Faith joined the First Magi Corps in battle. Nobody seemed wholly surprised to see a Val'kyr there, although they looked ill at ease with it around.  _Interesting to know that not even the Forsaken fully agree to having them around_ , she thought.

The fighting began in earnest. Alliance soldiers fell in troves, although the Forsaken weren't spared. Whenever she could, Faith set fire to the bodies, not wanting them to be raised, no matter what she told Sylvanas.

"You should stop doing that," said Rotvine. "If the Val'kyr are here, it means Sylvanas is nearby."

"I know Sylvanas is nearby. I've seen her. Who in the world do you think gave me that thing to fight with?" Faith didn't look back at it, knowing that it was busy raising one of the soldiers. "Carrick, everything in me is telling me not to let that creature raise the dead… it's wrong."

"Do you want to win the battle?"

There was nothing else to be said. With tears running down her face, Faith did her job, slaying Alliance captains and burning enough of them to give herself some peace of mind. Lesser Val'kyr were in the sky, accompanied by fresh Forsaken soldiers. There were so many of them that it made her a little sick, but she knew now that she had to stay with Sylvanas. She couldn't leave her. Not for good. This meant accepting the Val'kyr, such as they were.

Still crying, she called the creatures to her, and they flew over without hesitation. "Go. Just… attack them," she said. "All at once."

They did as she asked, becoming the vanguard of Faith's attack. Faith took one of the less defended sides, which was only managed by a captain and his small force.

"Don't let them raise us!" begged the captain once she had struck them down. "You're the Blackfire. You don't raise people from the dead."

"No. I don't. Don't worry, Captain. You won't end up as a Forsaken. You've fought well." Using her dagger, she ended his life swiftly, before setting fire to his body.

They were arriving at the Alliance part of the city. Its fortifications were heavy, and they were defended by at least a hundred grim-faced soldiers.

"Stop raising the dead!" she ordered the Val'kyr.

"But we were told –."

"I don't care what you were told. These men don't deserve to be raised. Their souls deserve to rest, and the same will go for these soldiers once we kill them. We are  _not_  the Scourge. Let us not give people the impression that we've turned into  _that_."

"You fight fair, Faith Everstone," said a man, a general, who was sitting atop a terrified brown horse. "Better than your lover and better than Thassarian, who has just left."

"Then come and face me," she said. "If I kill you, I will allow your men to leave Andorhal unharmed. If you kill me… I'll suggest that you leave fast because Sylvanas will not be forgiving."

"You will fight me without magic? Just with your blade?"

"I will, General. And  _nobody will interfere_." She turned towards the members of the Horde around her, "On your honor, you will not interfere with this fight."

"On our honor," replied an orc standing ten feet away from her. They formed a loose semi-circle around her as most of the fighting stopped, everyone focused on Faith and the general, who were now facing each other, the general's blade gleaming white, while Faith's shone blue. He put a helmet on his head.

"For the Alliance!" he cried, charging her.

Faith sidestepped the attack, swinging her blade in an arc that did very little damage to the general's mail armor. But it did break his stride, causing him to stumble. She used his momentum to drive him to the ground, exposing a bit of arm where his shoulder guards met the rest of his armor. Plunging her blade straight down, she caught that very area in his right arm. The general screamed, and she backed away, wrenching her blade out of his flesh.

"Keep attacking, Major!" called one of the Forsaken.

"This is a fair combat," she called. "Get up, General, or do you already yield?"

"I do  _not_  yield!" he screamed, struggling to his feet and picking up his weapon with his good hand. "I thought you a mage, but you have skill with the blade."

"Sylvanas Windrunner taught me hand-to-hand combat. I think that you'll find that there is no better teacher than her when it comes to the fighting arts."

"Duly noted," he said, facing her again.

It was obvious that the general was a skilled fighter, having gotten to his position because he knew what he was doing. But he was old, and his reflexes were slow. Ultimately, Faith wore him down. His helmet shattered after several blows from the hilt of Faith's spellblade and he fell backwards, his brown eyes wide.

"Be at peace, General," she told him quietly before driving the point of her blade towards his throat and killing him instantly. Kneeling, she took his insignia off his body, handing it to a stunned lieutenant who was standing there, looking horrified. "Your general fought well. Now, go, all of you."

"You… you're going to let us go?"

"I said I would. Go back to Chillwind Camp before Sylvanas finds out about this and has you slaughtered."

They didn't need to be told twice. A couple of them looked back at her with hatred, but didn't try to challenge her, which was wise.

"You really let them go, Faith," said Rotvine as they watched the Alliance soldiers filing out of the city. Nearby, a skeleton lay smoking, and Faith looked at it, wondering who that was. "It's Lurid, Thassarian's companion."

Faith nodded, "Of course I let them go. I have no desire to see anybody, not even Sylvanas, turn all of the Alliance forces into undead."

"But they could have helped us."

"We have the city, that's all that matters." She raised her voice, "Leave a group out here! The rest of you, back with me! We'll bring others around later!"

They went back through the city, making sure that nobody was still around. They found nobody except for a few dying soldiers that they dispatched efficiently. Faith held their hands each time, murmuring to them as they passed. She burned each of their bodies afterwards, standing over them until they were fully consumed by the flames.

"Why didn't you let the Val'kyr take them all?" asked Koltira when she got back to their side of the city.

"Because I'm not a member of the Scourge," Faith told him, walking back towards the inn.

"Where are you going?"

She didn't answer, walking into the building and going down the stairs, where Sylvanas was sitting on one of the boxes that littered the basement.

"There you are," she said quietly. "Are you all right?"

"Fine."

"You're bleeding."

Faith looked down, not having noticed an area where the general's sword had cut her arm. "Oh… it's nothing."

"Is it true you didn't let the Val'kyr have all the soldiers?"

A glance, "It is. And while we're on the subject, Sylvanas," Faith began to wrap a bandage around the cut, "never ask me to use one of those creatures again. Do not ever ask me to raise the dead. I won't."

Sylvanas took the bandage from Faith and wrapped her arm for her, "All right. It won't happen again."

"Thank you."

Finishing the bandage, Sylvanas looked at her, "So, what else happened?"

"Thassarian disappeared, leaving a force of about a hundred to defend the Alliance side of Andorhal. I decided to fight their general in hand-to-hand combat with the promise that we would allow them to leave unharmed if I won. He fought well."

"And gave you this, I presume," Sylvanas indicated her arm.

"A small price to pay. In any case, Andorhal is yours."

Sylvanas gave a nod, "Good job. Now… I need to have a little talk with Koltira."

"Don't be too hard on him, Sylvanas. It's never easy fighting against someone you know well."

"He's fighting for me. I expect him to be loyal to me first and foremost." She called out for Koltira, who came down the stairs, looking stunned when he saw Sylvanas there.

"My queen," he said quietly. "The city… is yours."

"Save it, Koltira. Andorhal should have been mine days ago. We both know who helped you defeat the Scourge, and who secured it from the Alliance while you were busy making truces with Thassarian."

Faith turned her gaze towards the wall behind Sylvanas' head, seemingly very interested in a spider web there.

"My Lady, I…"

"Quiet! I see I've been a little too tolerant with you. I need to make sure that you're going to stay loyal to me and not run back to the Knights of the Ebon Blade whenever the fancy strikes you. Faith, make me a portal to the prison in Undercity."

Raising her eyebrows, Faith complied, chanting in a low voice until arcane energies swirled around the room, coalescing into a portal to the Forsaken capital.

"Into the catacombs you go to learn what it's like to  _really_  be part of the Forsaken."

"No!"

"Hush now," said Sylvanas softly. "It'll all be over soon."

The energies of the portal pulled Koltira through them, and Sylvanas went with him, telling Faith to meet her back in Undercity later. "You can leave Carrick here for now. He has his orders when it comes to Andorhal."

"Yes, your Majesty," said Faith. "I'll be there as soon as I can."

_How quickly you revert back to the way things were before you left her…_

Faith shook her head, clearing away the annoying voice there, and went back outside to find Rotvine and tell him what had happened.

He laughed softly. "That was to be expected. Koltira's become a little too soft for Sylvanas' liking."

"What in the world does she want him to turn into, Arthas? And where the hell did all of these lesser Val'kyr come from?"

"Oh, Sylvanas asked the big ones to create them. She usually keeps them at Deathknell."

"Deathknell? For what?"

"It's a graveyard."

"I know it's a graveyard… oh. She's raising the dead from there. But some of them have been dead for a decade. What is she hoping to do, raise an army?"

"It's something she told Garrosh before we invaded Gilneas the second time. We're unable to procreate because we're dead. This is the only way to ensure that we don't die out."

Faith closed her eyes, "Carrick, I love you and all, but I would really appreciate if you never spoke about the Forsaken procreating again. That just gave me a very bad image."

"As if you've never thought about Sylvanas giving birth."

Faith blinked, "No, I haven't, and I didn't even when she was alive. Her giving birth would mean her having sex with men, and, in case you haven't noticed… I am no man."

Rotvine began to laugh, "It's good to have you back, Faith. You have no idea."

Faith nodded once. "Yeah…"

"You don't agree?"

"You know, it's weird. I was hoping that my leaving would have changed Sylvanas' ways. And here I find out that she all but razed Gilneas to the ground, killing the prince in the process, and that she's been raising the dead, the same way Arthas used to."

"She was taking her frustrations out on the world, Faith. You were dead. It… it was a very difficult time for her."

"And now she's going to revert back to her usual ways. Has nothing at all changed, Carrick?"

"You really need to talk to her."

"I plan to."

Faith returned to Undercity less than an hour later, to loud cheers from all of the assembled Forsaken. Sylvanas had obviously told them of her impending arrival.

"FAITH!"

Jumping out of her skin at the cry, Faith saw Hamu running towards her, followed by their parents and Ishaka. With him one arm, her brother hugged her so tightly he took her breath away.

"You're alive! I can't believe you're… oh you're okay!"

Atalo came to her next, tears leaking out of his big eyes, "My little girl," he said, hugging her. "I don't care if you're older than me, you're still my little girl. When we heard that you had died… my daughter."

"I'm all right, Father," she told him. "I'm all right."

Taisha cried into her neck when she hugged her, unable to say anything.

"How did you guys get here, anyway?" she asked them afterwards.

"Sylvanas sent word. Baine wants to see you, by the way, when you have time."

Faith smiled, "I'll go to Thunder Bluff tomorrow." Her smile faltered, "I'm so sorry I worried you. I didn't mean for it to… we didn't know there was a giant monster in the sea capable of doing that to our ship."

"What was it?"

"Ozumat. I guess you could call him the lead kraken, I don't really know. I did find out that he works with the naga, but other than that, I'm a little lost."

"And the naga saved your life?"

"One of them did." She took her family to a sitting room where Sylvanas generally took visiting dignitaries and sat down to tell them what had happened to her. Halfway through her story, she saw Sylvanas standing in the doorway, leaning against the doorframe.

She was listening attentively to what Faith was saying. She read between the lines when she told them about Thressa, and felt her anger rising to the surface. Someone had dared to assault her  _again_?

"She's dead, Sylvanas," said Faith quickly.

"Lucky for her."

Faith shook her head and went on, talking to them about how the Earthen Ring had saved her and Daegon and how she had gone to Hearthglen after Dalaran.

"Wait a minute. You've been safe for nearly two weeks, and you didn't tell us?"

I had my reasons," whispered Faith.

Sylvanas stepped out of the shadows to stand next to Faith's chair, "Which were?"

"While I was in Dalaran, I didn't know whether or not I wanted to come back. I wanted a chance to start something completely new, but at the same time… well, you know I've never been good at letting go of my past."

"You're still angry with me," said Sylvanas.

"No. I'm not angry anymore, Sylvanas. I'm sad. Sad that you didn't confide in me, and even sadder about the fact that I wasn't there when you were killed again."

Atalo got to his feet, "I can see that the two of you have a lot to discuss, so we're going to leave you. Faith, we'll see you tomorrow in Thunder Bluff, then?"

Faith hugged him and the others, "Absolutely. I love you."

"We love you, too."

She and Sylvanas were left alone, looking at each other across from a table. Faith conjured a goblet of water and sipped it thoughtfully, as she tried to figure out what to say to Sylvanas.

"You left me," she started.

"Yes I did."

"That was not okay."

"I know."

"Why did you come back?"

"Because I remembered that I still had something to live for. You can choose to believe that or not, but that's the truth of it." Sylvanas put her hand on the table, "My turn."

Faith nodded.

"You left too. I asked you to stay, and you left."

"I was angry with you, can't you understand that?"

"Not until Carrick showed me the casualty list with your name on it. Until then, I didn't know. I didn't understand the struggle you had been through since I'd died. I had never felt that pain. I've lost people before, but that… that was something else."

She stood up and took Faith's hand, bringing her to the Ruins of Lordaeron and to the tombstone that had been erected for her next to Prince's grave.

"I didn't want to believe that you were dead, but everything pointed to it. And I couldn't get over it. I couldn't stand to know that you were no longer in this world, that I was existing in a world that didn't have you in it."

Faith's lip trembled.

"I know, now, that this is how you felt when I died, and that you're reminded of this every day when you see me."

"It was different for you."

"Yes, but the emotions were the same." Sylvanas took Faith's chin gently and tipped it up until they were looking at each other, "I love you, Faith. With every undead fiber of my being, I love you. And I'm never letting you go again." Slowly, she leaned over and kissed her.

"I love you."


	23. Chapter 23

Faith spent some time at the grave site after Sylvanas went back into the city. It was weird, seeing her own headstone, even though everyone had done a beautiful job with it. It seemed to glow softly in the gloom of Tirisfal Glades, as though it had just been erected. As she stood there, snow began to fall and Faith looked up at the sky, allowing the flakes to catch in her hair. After a few minutes of this, she walked towards the stables.

The shrill cry of a hawkstrider greeted her as Lady saw her and practically went through her stall door trying to get to her.

“Lady, my darling!” said Faith, running to her.

The golden hawkstrider made a dozen noises as she nuzzled Faith over and over again, flapping her wings in an attempt to get closer to her.

“Oh, I missed you! Look at you! Sylvanas has been taking good care of you, hasn’t she?” Faith kissed her beak and began to brush her feathers, smoothing out a few of them that she had bent the wrong way in her excitement to see Faith again. “You’ve been a good girl, sweetheart, yes you have. Thank you for waiting for me.”

Lady nuzzled her again, happy to have her home. She was even happier when Faith put a blanket on her to keep out the chill of the evening, and accepted more cuddles from her.

“I’ll come and see you later, okay? Sylvanas needs me for now.” She kissed her again, and Lady nipped at her robes, trying to keep her there. The other animals in the stables were looking at them with what appeared to be amusement in their eyes, although it was a little hard to tell with the skeletal horses. “Later! I’ll bring you apples.”

Lady perked up at that. She loved apples. She made a sound of farewell, and Faith left the stables with a smile on her face.

“I see your hawkstrider was almost as happy as I was to see you again,” said Rotvine, coming out of the shadows and wrapping a warm cloak around her shoulders.

“Yes. Almost.”

“Have you and Sylvanas made up?”

“I don’t want to fight with her anymore, Carrick. It hurts too much. I even think I’ll accept the Val’kyr, so long as I never have to use one of them again.”

“Oh, I don’t think Sylvanas will be using them much anymore. Aradne was killed in Andorhal. So there are only four of them left now.”

“You’re telling me that Sylvanas is going to have to watch her back like the rest of us now. Good to know.”

“Look. The Val’kyr told her something after she jumped from Icecrown. They told her that because of the work you’ve been doing with us, for her, your soul was doomed to eternal torment, the same way hers is. That’s why she came back. She came back because she wants to find a way to redeem your soul.”

“I’m not undead, Carrick. I mean, I don’t think I’ll be going to a great place when I die, especially not after what I did today in Andorhal, but I’m fairly certain that my soul isn’t doomed that way.”

“Well, Sylvanas wanted to make sure of it. Because she heard you screaming when she was down there. I think that her own personal hell is to see you tortured for all eternity.”

“Stop, Carrick, please. You’re making me feel worse about leaving.”

“No, you shouldn’t feel bad about that. You needed time apart after what happened. She learned something about herself while you were gone.”

“What’s that? That she can live without me?”

Rotvine shook his head, “Quite the contrary. Everything she did in Gilneas, Faith… the Plague, killing Prince Liam, all of that was because she was grieving for you. I have to say that even I was afraid of her sometimes. I’m happy you didn’t see her like that. I don’t think you would have liked it.”

“I sure would have fought her when she raised the dead in Silverpine.”

“Of course you would have. I hope that she’ll calm down, now that she knows you’re alive and well.” He kept talking to her about what had happened in Gilneas as they made their way to the throne room. It took some time, as a lot of people were stopping them to chat, everyone obviously happy to have her back. “Oh, they want to throw a celebration for your return.”

“A what?” Faith blinked, “Sylvanas won’t stand for that.”

“Sylvanas approved the budget for it.”

“She approved the budget for a party? Sylvanas? Undead banshee with red eyes and a sexy mouth, that Sylvanas?”

Rotvine chuckled, “Yes, that Sylvanas. The blood elves are coming too, by the way. Lor’themar has just arrived. That’s why I came to get you.”

“You might have mentioned that a little sooner!” said Faith, beginning to hurry towards the throne room.

Sylvanas had changed into the outfit she’d worn at Hamu’s wedding. Seeing her that way when she walked into the room, Faith was so shocked that she stopped in her tracks to stare at her for a moment. The moment was quickly broken when Lor’themar shouted and ran to her, scooping her up in a hug that lifted her clear off the ground.

“I knew you were still alive!” he cried. “You had to be!” Still holding her, he kissed her on full on the mouth.

“Hey!” called Sylvanas. “Lay off!”

Faith pulled away, blushing a little, “That’s a new greeting, Lor’themar,” she told him. “I’m happy to see you too.”

“Yeah, well, I thought you were dead, so I thought I’d take the liberty of finally kissing you to see what it was like.”

Blinking, Faith glanced at Sylvanas, who had gotten off her chair and was walking towards them, “What do you mean finally?”

“Oh, I’ve wanted to kiss you for years, ever since you saved my life.”

“I saved your life once. It’s hardly grounds for deciding to kiss me.” Faith looked at him, an amused twinkle in her eye. She hugged him again, kissing his cheek, “Just don’t do it again, or this one will have your head.”

“This one?” asked Sylvanas, pulling Faith away from Lor’themar. “Is that what you’re calling me these days?”

“It suits you.”

“If you’d rather be with Lor’themar…”

“You’re jealous!” cried Faith, looking at Sylvanas with undisguised glee on her face. “You’re actually jealous! Lor’themar! She’s jealous!”

Lor’themar started to laugh, “I can see that. I never thought I’d see the day when Sylvanas Windrunner would be jealous of little old me.”

“Oh, be quiet, both of you,” said Sylvanas, taking Faith’s hand and leading her away.

“Hey, are we really having a party for me?”

“I don’t know. If you’re going to be kissing other people, I’m –.”

“I love you when you’re jealous,” said Faith, pulling at Sylvanas so that she would face her. “Come here.”

“I don’t really –.”

“Yes you do.” Faith wrapped her arms around her neck and kissed her, closing her eyes. Sylvanas resisted for a fraction of a second before kissing her back, stepping closer to her.

“Um, should I leave?” asked Lor’themar innocently.

Sylvanas made a noise of assent, deepening the kiss.

“I think they’re trying to figure out how deep their tongues can go before they become part of each other’s tonsils,” said Lor’themar to someone.

“Sylvanas has tonsils?” It was Rotvine.

“Faith would know.”

Sylvanas pulled away from Faith, “Do you two mind? We’re trying to make out over here.”

“Sylvanas, don’t be rude,” murmured Faith.

“I’m not being… It’s Lor’themar and Carrick, they don’t care what we do.”

Faith studied her face for a moment.

“What?”

“Nothing. I just realized how much I’d missed you, that’s all. Hey, it’s starting to snow out there. Will you be putting up the trees soon?”

“The what?”

“The Winter’s Veil trees!”

“You want a Winter’s Veil celebration.”

“I’d love one!” Faith looked at Sylvanas, her amber eyes as wide as they could go. When she batted her eyelashes, the Banshee Queen gave in.

“All right, all right. You’ll have a Winter’s Veil celebration. I’ll even invite your family to stay.”

“All of it?”

“Um, Faith,” said Lor’themar.

“She means you and Halduron,” Sylvanas told him. “And yes, Faith, if that’s what you want.”

“Thank you!” she hugged Sylvanas tightly, kissing her again for good measure.

“Maybe I should throw a party for a woman if it’ll get me a kiss like that,” said Lor’themar.

“As long as you don’t kiss my woman again, you’re going to be fine,” Sylvanas told him.

“Your woman?” asked Faith.

“Yes, my woman. Nobody gets to kiss you but me. And you would do well to remember it.”

Lor’themar was smiling, “Wow, Sylvanas, I haven’t seen you in such a good mood since before… for a long time.”

“Don’t get used to it, it won’t last.”

“Oh yes it will,” Faith told her. “I’ll make sure it does. Shall we convene court?”

“Only if you want to annoy me,” said Sylvanas. She smiled as she looked at Faith, and something seemed to change within her. She almost looked alive again, knowing that her love was back with her where she belonged.

The two of them were inseparable in the days that followed. They talked a lot about everything. Sylvanas gave her the details about what had happened to her when she had died. Faith was aghast at realizing that Sylvanas soul was doomed for all eternity.

“Is there nothing we can do about it?”

“It’s too late for me, baby.”

“Don’t say that, it can’t be too late. There had to be something we can do.”

“There is nothing. My soul is gone, Faith. And I’ll never get it back. It’s something that both of us are going to have to accept.”

“You wouldn’t accept it if it were me, Sylvanas, and you know it.”

“No, I wouldn’t. But it’s different.”

Faith smiled and went to sit on Sylvanas’ lap, “How is it different? I think that you feel the same way about me than I feel about you, which means that we think the same things. I’m no different than you are.”

“That’s not true. You’re pure and innocent.”

“Hate to break it to you, love, but I haven’t been innocent since you walked into my life.”

Sylvanas chuckled, “Maybe.”

“Maybe, well…” Faith straddled Sylvanas’ hips and gently pulled the hood off her head, exposing her brittle blonde hair. Pushing it aside, she gained access to the queen’s neck, beginning to nibble on it softly. “Is that innocent?” she whispered.

“It’ll become indecent if you keep it up.”

“Mmm, I like being indecent with you.”

“Ah, Faith…” Sylvanas tried getting up, but Faith’s mouth felt too good on her, so, for a short while, she allowed herself to enjoy it. Closing her eyes, she kept her hands on Faith’s hips to make sure that she wouldn’t move.

“You want me to go on?” she asked.

“Not unless you want me to screw you right here.”

“Hey, it’s Winter’s Veil. I wouldn’t mind that as an early birthday present.”

“Oh, you wouldn’t, would you?” Sylvanas grabbed her and got to her feet before slowly setting her down, “I do have a city to run at the moment, you know.”

“Yes. And even city leaders have some time off to relax.”

“Name me one.”

“Well, I wouldn’t presume to know what Lor’themar does in his down time, but I can guess. I mean, he’s got women throwing themselves at him.”

“Yes, please. Let’s keep talking about the man who kissed you for no good reason.”

“He was happy to see me. You kiss me when you’re happy to see me.”

“You were happy to see Carrick, and I sure as hell don’t see you kissing him.”

“He’s… undead!”

“And what the heck am I, a duck?”

“You’re Sylvanas,” said Faith simply.

“Nice to meet you too,” she said dryly.

“Oh, stop it. You know that you’re not like the other Forsaken. I mean, I could say the same thing about you and Nathanos.”

“Nothing ever happened between us! Just because I enjoyed training him doesn’t mean he was my lover.”

“And I’ve never been with anybody else but you, so will you please stop acting like I’ve cheated on you? I didn’t initiate the kiss Lor’themar gave me, you know.”

Sylvanas grumbled something inaudible, causing Faith to smile.

“I love you. Do I tell you that enough?”

“You tell me you love me every day, Faith.”

“Yes, but do you believe me?”

“Of course I… what kind of a question is that?”

Faith took her hand, rubbing her wedding finger gently, “Sometimes, I don’t think I get through to you. Then you get jealous over something completely innocent… You enjoy being a mystery to me.”

Sylvanas looked down at their hands, “I’m allowed to be jealous. You were jealous when you found out that Cindera kissed me.”

“I know you’re not comparing that Scourge-serving bitch to Lor’themar,” snapped Faith.

“Calm down. But you see what I mean? You don’t like it either.”

Faith took a deep breath, “All right. I’ll admit that the thought of anybody touching you other than me fills me with hatred. But I have a special place in the recesses of my heart for Cindera. It’s the part of my heart that wishes I could kill her again just to watch her suffer.” She sighed, “Yes, you’re allowed to be jealous. But you should also know that I’m only in love with one person. You’re the one I want to be with.”

“Stop. You’re going to make me blush.”

“Since when do you blush?” wondered Faith interestedly, cocking her head to the side.

“I don’t. But I’m sure you could find a way to make it happen.” She looked up at her again, “Yes, I was jealous when he kissed you. I didn’t expect him to do that.”

“That makes two of us.”

“Was it good?”

“Was it… what?”

“Good. The kiss. Was it?”

Faith pressed her lips together to keep from bursting into laughter, only partially succeeding, “Are you asking me whether he’s a better kisser than you are?”

“I’m leaving now.” She did just that, as Faith began to laugh so hard that tears ran down her face. A minute later, she caught up with her.

“Are you done making fun of me?”

“I wasn’t making fun of you. You just took me by surprise, asking me that.” She put her hand on Sylvanas’ face, “Hey. Stop looking like that.”

“Like what?”

“You’re pouting.”

“And?”

“It’s making me want to do more indecent things with you. On your throne.”

It was Sylvanas’ turn to laugh, “You want to make love in the throne room?”

“Why not? It could be fun. The echoes in there would really make things interesting.”

“Okay, but you’re changing the subject.”

“Wow, you really want to know.” Faith sighed, “It wasn’t the same kind of kiss, Sylvanas. I think – hope – that he kissed me on impulse because he was happy. It wasn’t about love, not that kind of love, anyway. When you kiss me… Sunwell help me, Sylvanas, when you kiss me, my heart still stutters in my chest.”

“Is that good?”

“Very. You kiss me, and everything falls into place. When you kiss me, I’m home.”

Sylvanas looked at her for a few seconds before she cleared her throat. She opened her mouth, but could think of absolutely nothing to say to Faith’s confession. She settled for gathering her into her arms and holding her, stroking her hair. A dusty tear ran down her cheek, making her eyes itch.

Faith squeezed her gently, murmuring a few words to her and kissing the shell of her ear. “I love you.”

“I love you,” responded Sylvanas, her voice barely above a whisper. She released Faith when she felt she was more in control of herself, “Now… can you make yourself scarce for about an hour?”

“I bare my soul to you, and you want me to leave?”

“Yes. There’s something I need to get, and I’ll show it to you later.”

“Well… okay. But you owe me a cuddle.”

“Tonight, I promise.”

“We are tonight.”

“Later tonight.”

Curious now, Faith kissed her, and made her way back to Sylvanas’ chambers, lying down and taking a short nap, waiting for Sylvanas to return.

She was still asleep when Sylvanas came back with her surprise, a beautiful fir tree that Rotvine had turned black with a spell. Placing a huge box of decorations down, she quietly moved to the bed, sitting down.

“Come back to me, my love,” she whispered, leaning over and kissing Faith’s cheek.

Faith had always responded to her. This time was no exception. Her amber eyes opened slowly, and she smiled taking Sylvanas’ arm and pulling until the queen had lain down next to her.

“Now what?”

“A few more minutes,” whispered Faith, closing her eyes again.

“All right. But you need to let me go. I’d like to change.”

That statement seemed to get Faith attention. “Change?” she asked.

“Clothes.”

“Naked?”

Sylvanas smiled, “I imagine I’ll be naked at some point during the process, yes.”

Her eyes popped open, “I’m awake.”

“Good.” Sylvanas kissed her, “Now you can see my surprise.”

“Will you be naked?”

For once, Sylvanas’ laugh was genuine, the sound bouncing against the walls, “What’s with you wanting to see me naked all of a sudden?”

“Mmmm, you woke me up from a really good dream.”

“I could let you return to the dream, should you wish it.”

Faith shook her head, “No. You’re better than any dream.” She sat up, her eyes catching the tree in the room, “Oh, Sylvanas… it’s beautiful.”

“Yeah? You like it?”

Faith inhaled deeply. The smell of the fir tree came through, even though Faith’s lavender-scented spell permeated the room. “Oh, I love it. Carrick did a masterful job at the coloring spell.” She put a hand on Sylvanas’ back, rubbing the muscles there. “Thank you, my love.”

Sylvanas kissed Faith’s temple, “You’re welcome, my darling. Shall we decorate it?”

“I thought you were changing?”

“I will. Later.” Taking Faith’s hand, she helped her to her feet and brought her to the decorations, which were all white and gold.

“Anar’alah Belore, Sylvanas, how did you get these?”

“A woman’s got to have some secrets to keep her lover interested.”

“I’m definitely interested. Every day I’m more interested.”

Sylvanas looked at Faith, seeing something in her eyes. The usual love and fear, and still a soupcon of betrayal. It was obvious that she was working hard to forget what had transpired. Even after their talks, Faith felt hurt by what she’d done.

I wonder if I’ll ever live that down…

A gentle hand on her face, “Are you all right?”

“Of course.” She sat down, cross-legged, and pulled Faith on her lap, “So, let’s see what we have here.”

The two of them spent the next hour decorating the tree, giggling the way they had done when they’d been younger, although Sylvanas refused to admit to it afterwards. When all the decorations were in place, Faith performed a spell so that little twinkling golden lights appeared here and there, making the tree sparkle.

It was breathtaking to see, and once everything was done, Faith pulled Sylvanas under the tree so that they could look at it from below. It was something the two of them had done countless times in Quel’Thalas, trying to pretend that the rest of the world didn’t exist while they stared at the wonder of Winter’s Veil.

“I loved you so much back then I could never catch my breath while I was around you,” murmured Faith.

“And you don’t love me as much now,” guessed Sylvanas.

“I think I love you more now than I did before, although it’s not easy to quantify. We don’t have this tension anymore between us.”

“You mean the sexual tension because we wanted to jump each other’s bones, but couldn’t?”

Faith chuckled, “I would have sold my soul to get a kiss from you back then.”

“I did kiss you.”

“You did.” She rested her head on Sylvanas’ shoulder, “But I wanted to sell my soul for a kiss, not yours.”

Faith had never joked about Sylvanas’ first death. Immediately, she felt horrible about it, and opened her mouth to apologize, but Sylvanas quickly moved to kiss her, effectively silencing her. Their tongues mingled, and when Faith spread her legs, the Banshee Queen took the invitation, gently pulling down her leggings.

They broke their kiss, and Faith could do nothing but watch as Sylvanas lowered her mouth to where Faith needed her the most. She cried out, staring at the decorated tree branches above her.

“Oh… oh! I’ll never l-look at… a Winter’s V-Veil tree the… the s-same way a-again… oh, Sylvanas…”

Sylvanas chuckled, not stopping until Faith was nothing more than a quivering mass of ecstasy beneath her lips, calling out her name over and over again.

“Better?” she asked.

“Oh, you have no idea.”

“I plan to get an idea later on, if you don’t mind.”

“I never mind making love with you.”

Sylvanas chuckled, “All right, but not immediately. I have something for you, and I’d like to give it to you before tomorrow.”

“I have something for you too, actually.”

A smile, “You might want to get dressed again, or I might think that your body is what you’re planning on giving me.”

“My body’s yours, Sylvanas, you know that,” she said, cleaning herself quickly and pulling her leggings on again.

Sylvanas laughed again and got up. Going to the dresser, she took a wrapped box from one of the shelves, handing it to her. “Happy Winter’s Veil, Faith.”

Faith took the box, “Thank you, my heart.” She sat on Sylvanas’ lap to open it. She went very still. “Oh… Sylvanas.”

Inside the box was a beautiful necklace that was remarkably similar to the ring that had once belonged to Faith, but that now was around Sylvanas’ finger. It was a mithril vine choker, with a pendant dangling from it to form an elven flower, in the center of which was a moonstone gem.

“There’s no need to cry, sweetheart,” said Sylvanas quietly, wiping the tears that ran down Faith’s cheeks. “Or do you hate it?”

“I love you so much, Sylvanas…”

Sylvanas kissed her gently, “I love you too. Do you want me to put it on you?”

“Please,” said Faith with a nod.

She did so, securing the necklace around Faith’s neck, and placing a kiss there. Faith shivered.

“Thank you, Sylvanas. This means a lot to me.”

“It’s just a necklace.”

“No. This is your gift to me.” A kiss, “Open yours, my love.” She waved a hand, and a long box appeared in midair. Sylvanas caught it, and Faith moved a little so that she could open it, revealing an absolutely beautiful bow made of polished black wood that looked perfectly balanced, even in the box.

“You didn’t…”

“But I did,” said Faith.

“Oh, honey… how?”

“I know that your bow shattered in Icecrown, so you’ve been using a backup.”

“Yes… but I didn’t necessarily need a new bow, my darling. It’s gorgeous.” She examined it, seeing the textured grip that had been embellished to look like a skull from which protruded several black feathers. Both ends of the bow had been sharpened and fitted with blades, and studded with little amber and ruby gems. “You made this,” she realized.

“I wasn’t alone when I made it.”

Sylvanas picked up the bow, feeling it becoming an immediate extension of her arm. Magic seeped through her fingers. Faith’s magic, protective and loving. “I don’t know what to say…”

Faith smiled. The look in Sylvanas’ eyes was more than enough for her. “You’re welcome,” she said quietly, kissing her. “You are so welcome.” Another kiss. Sylvanas pulled her closer.

“You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, you know that?”

“It’s just a bow,” said Faith, echoing Sylvanas’ earlier tone.

“I can feel your essence in every grain of wood that make up this bow.” She ran her fingers over one of the ambers, “These are your eyes.”

Faith ran a hand over one of the rubies, “And these are yours.”

“So we’re together, even on my bow.”

Faith nodded, “Even if I can’t be with you physically all the time, I want to always be with you in spirit.”

Sylvanas smirked a little, gently putting the bow down and wrapping her arms around Faith, “You know I hate that sappy stuff.”

“Oh, shut up, you love it, and you cannot convince me otherwise.”

They kissed. Outside, fresh white snow decorated Tirisfal Glades, purifying everything. At that very moment, everyone was at peace.

But it was not to last.


	24. Chapter 24

The Winter's Veil celebrations ended with Faith and Sylvanas going to Dalaran to partake in the festivities for the new year. In truth, Sylvanas had had no desire to go, but Faith had insisted, which was how they now found themselves at a table with the Kirin Tor on the last day of the year.

They sat together with Krasus and Alexstrasza, who were gracious towards Sylvanas, managing to engage her in conversation, which wasn't always an easy task in a public setting. Faith kept her leg pressed against hers the entire time, not wanting to lose physical contact with her. She felt needy, and Sylvanas noticed it, although she couldn't do anything about it here.

"Aunt Sylvanas!"

Sylvanas turned her head when Vereesa's sons ran to her and climbed on to her lap. She tolerated it, because the boys genuinely seemed to enjoy her company, something she still couldn't imagine.

"Shouldn't you two be in bed?" she asked them.

"Mother said that we could stay up tonight. We're big boys now, you know!"

"Big boys indeed. Say hello to your aunt Faith."

They did, Giramar hopping off Sylvanas' lap to climb on Faith's.

Alexstrasza was watching them with a thoughtful look on her face, "The two of you would make great parents. You definitely have a knack with the boys."

"We saved their lives. They got attached to us because of this," said Sylvanas. "And nobody in their right mind would ever make me a mother."

"Faith can have children."

Faith shook her head, "No, I can't."

"Of course you can."

"No, Alexstrasza. I _can't._ I wouldn't, anyway. I've seen too much to want to raise my own children in this kind of world."

"Didn't you ever think about adopting?" asked Krasus.

Faith sighed, not knowing how to answer that. She looked at Sylvanas.

"Had Arthas not happened, I think that, yes, Faith and I would have probably settled down somewhere to raise a family. Had we ever managed to hold a conversation about such a topic, which really wasn't our forte back then." Under the table, she took Faith's hand, squeezing it gently.

Rhonin laughed, "Light help me, the two of you were impossible. I only spent a short time with them before Quel'Thalas fell, but they drove me insane for those few days I was around them."

"We didn't do anything!" exclaimed Faith.

"That's exactly what the problem was! Everyone, and I mean _everyone_ could tell that you were in love with each other. And you just danced around one another. The first time I met you, I couldn't figure out why you were so tense. Not until your brother Estelien told me what you were up to."

"Estelien… he didn't know –."

"He knew," said Sylvanas. "He knew it wasn't just a crush, anyway." She bit her lip to keep from laughing, "You weren't exactly subtle."

"I was very subtle!"

"What's 'subtle'?" asked Galadin.

Sylvanas quietly explained it to him, and he nodded solemnly. A moment later, he put his thumb in his mouth and fell asleep in her arms. Giramar did the same, and Rhonin quietly performed a little spell on them to keep them from being disturbed by the conversation around them.

"Do they always do that?"

"What, fall asleep at the same time?"

Faith nodded.

"All the time. Most days, we can't keep them in their separate beds." Rhonin came to pick up Galadin from Sylvanas, while Vereesa picked up Giramar. They left the room with them, returning a short while later to resume their conversation, but Faith didn't really feel like talking anymore.

"You need a break?" Sylvanas whispered to her.

A nod.

"Come on." She took Faith's hand, leading her outside.

The mages of Dalaran had allowed a generous amount of snow to fall over the city so that it was completely transformed. Glittering decorations hung from lamp posts and a huge tree had been raised in the center of the city, decorated in multiple colors and shimmering lights. It was there that Sylvanas took Faith, putting an arm around her.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing. I just wanted to spend some time alone with you."

Sylvanas smiled a little, "And not talk about the fact that you and I could have raised a family had I not died?"

Faith looked at her, her eyes wide, "You never told me you wanted that."

"It was a long time ago." She brushed a lock of hair from Faith's forehead, "Besides, we're together now."

"I know."

Sylvanas held her, rubbing her nose against hers, "Do you want to go home?"

"I just want to stay here with you for now."

"You're shivering."

"I don't care." Faith pressed herself closer to her, resting her head against her shoulder, "Don't leave me."

"I won't."

They didn't move for a few minutes, both of them closing their eyes and getting lost in memories they couldn't control. They didn't stay alone for long, though.

When Faith opened her eyes, she saw Krasus slowly walking over to them, seemingly mindless to the cold.

"I'm sorry we brought up old memories," he said. "I can't imagine how difficult it is for you to think about that time."

Faith smiled a little, "I can still think about it. It just hurts, that's all. Every day, I remember something that I had meant to do with her."

"She's not going anywhere," Sylvanas told her. Her eyes drifted over to Icecrown Citadel, but she quickly looked away, not wanting her thoughts to stray there while Faith was in her arms.

"You do know that Alexstrasza didn't mean to offend you with what she said. She really believes that you would make good parents."

"Faith would be a good mother, yes."

"Oh, like you wouldn't spoil our children rotten."

_Our children_. Sylvanas let that sink in for a second. "I don't know. I always thought that I'd be the strict disciplinarian that they would be afraid of, and they'd run to you for comfort."

"Oh yeah, the twins are very afraid of you, Sylvanas," said Faith sarcastically. "I'll never forget the way Galadin started sucking his thumb and fell asleep in your arms. You actually cuddled him."

"What did you want me to do, toss him in the fireplace?"

"I liked seeing you like that. It reminded me of the way you were with… you remember that puppy you found by the side of the road who had fallen out of a wagon?"

Sylvanas dragged her mind back to the day Faith was talking about. She smiled, "Yes. That wasn't far from your home."

"Right. It had a broken paw, and you just kept it with you for weeks, until the family came to pick it up."

"So my nephew reminds you of a puppy."

"No. You remind me of a caregiver."

Krasus was smiling at them. "Sylvanas Windrunner, Banshee Queen of the Forsaken, and caregiver to puppies. It has a ring to it."

Faith giggled, "I like it."

"Well, don't mention it too much, all right? I have a reputation to maintain." She kept an arm around Faith as they began to walk back with Krasus towards the celebration.

"I wouldn't dream of it. Faith, could you give us a minute? I'd like to speak to Sylvanas alone."

"Alone? But…" Faith bit her lip, "Okay."

"I'm not going to eat her, if that's what you're worried about."

Sylvanas gave her a little squeeze before gently pushing her away, "Go, I'll be right over." She waited for her to leave before turning to Krasus, "Let's have it."

"You and Faith are doing better, I see."

"We could hardly be doing worse than the last time she was here." Sylvanas leaned against a building, "I thought she was dead. It changed my perspective a little."

"I'd say more than a little, considering the fact that you're here, and you obviously don't want to be."

"Faith is here."

"Right. As I said, you're doing better. But how long will that last?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, how long will it last? How long until the next fight and you kill yourself again?"

"I didn't kill myself because I had a fight with Faith."

"No, you killed yourself because you had a selfish moment." He sighed, "Faith is one of the sweetest people I've ever known during my long existence. She's made some questionable choices in her life because of you, because she loves you so much that she can't stand not being with you. I recently heard that you asked her to use the Val'kyr in order to get Andorhal from the Alliance."

Sylvanas crossed her arms, "Faith and I already talked about that."

"Good. Because if I hear about this happening again, you're not going to like my reaction."

"Is that a threat?"

"More like a warning. I don't want to have to do anything to you, Sylvanas. Faith would be destroyed if you were to die for good, and I don't want to hurt her."

"You realize that you won't be able to kill one without killing the other?"

"Exactly why I'd rather not have to kill you."

Faith was waiting for them, obviously trying to listen to what they were saying. Sylvanas went to her, putting an arm around her waist, "You know better than to eavesdrop, sweetheart."

"What was all that about?"

"You don't need to worry about it."

"It didn't seem like you were having a friendly conversation."

"Well, you can't expect me to be friendly with everyone."

"Sylvanas."

"Faith."

"You're not going to tell me what's going on?"

"No. Like I said, it's nothing for you to worry about, okay? Come back inside before you freeze to death." She led her back towards the party, which was beginning to get more raucous as midnight approached.

"Am I allowed to kiss you at midnight?"

"In public? I don't know."

Faith sighed, "I guess we might as well go home then."

Sylvanas looked at her evenly, "Krasus was warning me about what I've been doing lately. He doesn't like it, and he wanted me to know it, that's all."

"Okay." Faith looked down to see that Sylvanas' hands were tightly clenched, and she touched her, "Please don't be angry. You're not supposed to be angry anymore."

"You're not the one I'm angry at." She allowed Faith to take her hand, slowly relaxing as much as she was able.

"I know. And if we go home, I can help make all that anger go away."

A small smile, "I'm fine. But I'll take you up on that offer later on."

They stayed close together for the rest of the night, sneaking in a kiss when midnight rolled around and the new year began. They went home soon after, Faith creating a portal for them so that they landed in Sylvanas' chambers, directly on the bed.

"Impatient, are we?" asked Sylvanas, slowly beginning to undress her.

"I've been needing you all night."

"You always need me."

"Yes I do. And what are you going to do about it?"

"Oh, I think you have a general idea of what I'm planning on doing…"

Faith fell asleep in Sylvanas' arms afterwards, not waking up until one o'clock the following afternoon. She was alone, but there was a note next to her pillow, telling her to get to the throne room as soon as she was able to.

Washing up, Faith got dressed in a new set of black robes lined with blue, and made her way to Sylvanas, who was evidently waiting for her.

"Happy new year, sleepy one," she said by way of greeting. She glanced at her, then did a double-take. "You're wearing blue."

Faith looked at her robes, "A little, yes."

"I've always loved you in blue."

"So you said." Faith crossed the room, taking her hand and kissing it. She would have done more, but there were several people in the throne room, giving various reports on the situation at Tyr's Hand in the Eastern Plaguelands. "What's going on?"

"What would you say if I told you that the remaining Scarlet Crusaders in the Plaguelands had all been turned into Scourge?"

"I'd call it poetic justice, despite the tragedy." She glanced at the Forsaken man who was standing in front of the throne, holding a report in his hand, "Wait, did they?"

"I'm afraid so. The Argent Crusade is already on it, though, so there's nothing for us to do here."

"Do you need me for anything?" asked Faith.

He shook his head, "No, but thank you for the offer, Major."

"I'm going to need you for something else anyway, Faith," Sylvanas told her.

"Oh?"

The queen gave a nod, "We've just gotten word that the Twilight's Hammer has been spotted in Quel'Thalas, and that they could be working with the Scourge there."

"I thought the Scourge in Quel'Thalas was gone?"

"So did I, which is why I'd like to investigate this."

"All right. Let me get my team together and I'll get back to you."

The "team" consisted largely of the First Magi Corps, who were ready as soon as Faith told them about their mission. Sylvanas joined them as they did some refresher exercises in the War Quarter of Undercity the following day.

"I'm sorry, Faith. I know you wanted a few days off."

"Only so that I could help you with things around here," she told her. "If you need me for this, I'll be more than happy to help."

Sylvanas took her aside, "I wish I could give you a real vacation. I'd take you somewhere so that you could lie in the sun."

"But I hate the sun."

"That's not true. You love the sun, but you keep to the shadows because of me. Don't think I haven't noticed that."

Faith kissed her cheek, "All right. But I'd rather spend my time in the shadows with you than in the sun by myself."

"Come back to me soon, okay? And be careful out there. We have no idea what we're up against."

"Hey, I'm always careful."

"Before you go, I have something for you." She handed her a small wrapped parcel, "It's a hearthstone."

"A… Sylvanas, where did you get that?"

"Rhonin. I don't ever want you to be stranded somewhere with the inability to come home to me. If something happens, come back and we'll figure something out, okay?"

"I love you."

Sylvanas blinked, "I love you too."

Faith and the First Magi Corps left the next day for Quel'Thalas, taking a portal to Silvermoon. Lor'themar was waiting for them having received word of what was going on.

"I can't say that I'm not worried about this, Faith. The last thing we need is for the Twilight's Hammer to revive whatever's left of the Scourge."

"We were under the impression that we had gotten rid of all significant Scourge activity here after the fall of the Lich King," Faith told him.

"Yes, and you were right about that. There are still a few pockets here and there, namely near Deatholme and Windrunner Spire."

Faith closed her eyes, "They've retaken Windrunner Spire? What do I have to do, move in to keep them out of there?"

"As far as I know, it's just a few banshees dressed as rangers."

Banshees dressed as rangers. "Sylvanas' fighters. They're still here?"

"I'm afraid so, yes."

Oh, this was bringing Faith down a path she didn't want to walk. Taking a deep breath, she nodded, "All right. We'll go see what's going on. Do you have news on other fronts?"

"We've just gotten word from the Earthen Ring in Deepholm that the battle against the Twilight's Hammer there is intensifying. The same goes for the people on Mount Hyjal."

"So the war's being waged on all fronts," said Halduron to Faith. "The Farstriders will provide some backup to your forces when you get further south. Just be careful, the plague is still strong down there, and some beasts are still being infected."

"Business as usual, then," said Faith. "We'd better go."

It was a journey Faith had made many times over the past few years, and she found that it didn't get easier with time. Passing by Fairbreeze Village and seeing Sylvanas' memorial brought a fresh wave of grief that she forced herself to push aside. Throat constricted, she rode, urging Lady forward.

Southern Quel'Thalas hadn't changed much since the last time Faith had been there. It was still dark and dreary, quite unlike the home she had known. And yet, patches of light prevailed here and there, where the darkness was receding. The grass seemed greener, the air fresher. It was as though the magic that had permeated the woods had slowly begun to return.

"Things are starting to look better, I think," she told one of the Farstriders who was riding with them, a red-headed man by the name of Haenas.

"Yes. We've been fortunate, but I think that the Cenarion Circle should come here and give us a hand. It would really make it easier on the wildlife," his gaze cut left, "Look out!"

Lady gave a cry and jumped aside as a feral lynx suddenly came out of nowhere, leaping towards them. Without a thought, Faith unsheathed her spellblade and swung it at the creature, who let out a guttural scream and slumped to the ground.

"That's new," she murmured, climbing off her hawkstrider and moving towards the cat, who now lay still in the road. "I've never had them do that before, even rabid ones."

"This one isn't just rabid. Look at its pelt."

She did so, seeing patches of festering skin that dotted the lynx's luxurious red coat. "We need to find the source of this plague, or we'll never be rid of it."

"Then we need to go to Deatholme. Our sources state that the plague is there."

"Yes, it would be there, wouldn't it? Have you seen anything unusual down there?"

"Unusual, Major?"

She nodded.

"No. That's why we were so surprised to hear about members of the Twilight's Hammer here. We haven't seen anything like that around, and we've had people guarding the Thalassian Pass day and night. They would have noticed something."

"You think we've been duped?" Rotvine asked Faith.

"Not necessarily. It's possible that someone heard something and panicked. But I'm fairly certain that nobody would have been able to come down here and ally themselves with the Scourge without anybody finding out. The Argent Crusade would have definitely sent word to us. Who did we get this information from, anyway?"

"Exactly them. We had no reason to question what they were telling us."

"Then we investigate further." Raising her hand, she set fire to the lynx before getting back in the saddle. They started riding again, covering ground much faster by sticking to the Dead Scar, which was absolutely empty. "I'm not used to seeing it without fiends crawling all over it," she said.

"None of us are. It's weird how quiet it is."

"Let's hope it stays that way," said Rotvine grimly.

They moved closer and closer to the dead city without seeing anything more unusual than a few plagued animals, which they killed and burned quickly.

"I've never seen it so calm," murmured Faith when they were in view of the ruined gates. "Wait here."

Nudging Lady along, she made her way towards the gates that were still blocked because of the battle that had happened there several years previously. It still smelled like death, but there was an undercurrent of something else that could have almost been mistaken for fresh air.

"Nothing's been active here for quite some time" she said to herself. She got off Lady, telling her that she should run if there was danger. Kneeling, she picked up some dirt, rolling it around her fingers. It was as dead as it had always been, and she moved on, comparing it to the dirt away from the scar. The difference was obvious, even to her untrained eye, and she was sure that druids would tell her that things were starting to get fertile again, and it wouldn't be happening if the Scourge were still active in Quel'Thalas.

Just to be on the safe side, she climbed up the wall of Deatholme to see what things looked like from a different perspective.

"Nothing…"

There were just a few ghosts hovering around here and there, looking aimless. She listened carefully, but there was nothing to be heard. She knew enough about the Scourge to know that, even if hidden, she would manage to feel something from them. Most importantly, she saw absolutely no trace of the Twilight's Hammer there.

She did see a little stream she'd never noticed before that passed through the city and emerged into the woods. The stream looked filthy, and she had an idea that this was where the Plague of Undeath still thrived.

Quickly, she made her way back to Lady, climbing on and riding back to the others.

"What did you discover?" Rotvine asked her immediately.

"Just a stream that probably carries the plague to the animals around here. Other than that, to be honest, there's nothing to indicate that the Scourge is active, or that the Twilight's Hammer has come to Quel'Thalas."

Rotvine stared at her, "So what in the world did the Argent Crusade hear? A rumor?"

"This wasn't a complete waste of time," said Faith. "At least we've been able to establish that the Scourge is effectively inactive around these parts."

"But what about the Twilight's Hammer?"

"We'll work on that. For now, we should report back to our respective leaders and give them our findings. After that, I guess we'll see."

"So, what, we just leave?" asked one of the mages.

Faith gave a nod, "I guess so. We can always come back if we see something. I'll recommend to Halduron that we leave a Farstrider unit here, and find a way to clear the stream of the plague. It'll go a long way towards helping the animals, I think."

They rode back to Silvermoon, taking the time to look for sick animals and putting them out of their misery whenever necessary. They arrived the following day, and were met by Lor'themar, who was looking too grim for Faith comfort.

"What's going on?" asked Faith. "Has something happened?"

"Sylvanas will fill you in on the details, Faith but… we've just gotten news from Dalaran. I'm so sorry… Krasus is dead."


	25. Chapter 25

Dalaran was quiet. The Winter's Veil tree that had been in the center of the city was gone, as were all of the decorations. The flags that usually fluttered in the breeze above the city had been colored black.

 _Krasus is dead_.

It was a sentence Faith had never expected to hear.

She and the First Magi Corps had arrived in Dalaran a few minutes previously, having heard that Sylvanas was waiting there for them. Why she was in Dalaran was a mystery, but Faith didn't want to question that.

She didn't want to believe that what Lor'themar had said to her was true. Krasus couldn't be dead. It just wasn't possible.

"What do you think happened?" Rotvine asked her.

"Nothing. I don't think it's true. There must have been a mistake somewhere."

"Faith," he said slowly. "Look around. The city's in mourning."

She shook her head, "No. We've just… we have to find Sylvanas."

Rotvine and the others followed her. "There she is," he said, indicating an area near one of the fountains, where the Banshee Queen was talking to Rhonin.

Sylvanas turned around, "Faith," she said.

"It's not true, is it?" asked Faith immediately, looking from Rhonin to Sylvanas. "It can't be. He… it's not true."

"Sweetheart," Sylvanas put both her hands on her shoulders, her face registering some sadness, "I'm afraid it is true. He's gone."

"But it's not possible…" tears pooled in Faith's eyes. "No…" She glanced at Rhonin, and upon seeing the look on his face, she realized that Sylvanas was speaking the truth: Krasus the dragon was dead. She began to cry, and Sylvanas wrapped her arms around her, holding her close.

"I'm sorry, baby. I'm so sorry." Sylvanas closed her eyes, trying to absorb Faith's grief. She hated seeing her that way, hated that there was nothing she could do to protect her from losing the people she loved. Stroking her hair, she did the best she could to comfort her, kissing the tears from her face.

"What happened?" Rotvine asked Rhonin in a voice that wasn't quite steady. "How did Master Krasus die?"

"We don't really understand what happened exactly. All we heard is that Wyrmrest Temple has been destroyed by an explosion while the Wyrmrest Accord was in session, but the Aspects were somewhere else. Apparently, Korialstrasz was the only one there at the time, so they're thinking that he did it."

Faith looked up from Sylvanas' embrace, "What?" she asked thickly.

"It's just what we've heard. Obviously we don't have anything definite now."

"They're saying that he destroyed the temple?"

Rhonin nodded, "With all the eggs."

Faith looked at Sylvanas, who put a hand on her face, "We'll figure it out," she said gently. "I promise. Come on, you need to sit down." She led her to a nearby inn, ordering a strong drink for her and nearly forcing it down her throat.

As they all sat there, the Forsaken mages not knowing what to do with themselves, someone walked into the inn. He looked human, but Faith had spent enough time amongst dragons to know when one of them stood before her.

"Ganados," said Rhonin, getting to his feet. "What news have you got?"

"Only what I told you before, I'm afraid. Everything so far leads us to believe that Korialstrasz destroyed Wyrmrest Temple on purpose. Everything is gone. There isn't a single egg left in the temple. All of the sanctums have been obliterated."

"First you tell me that Krasus is dead," said Faith. Her voice sounded oddly like Sylvanas'. "And now you're telling me that he betrayed the Wyrmrest Accord. You expect us to believe this?"

"We don't know what to believe," said the dragon. "We can only comment on what we see… the loss of the sanctums is a fatal blow to the Accord… I don't know how we're going to recover."

"You can start by finding out exactly what happened. I refuse to believe that Krasus would have destroyed the temple without reason. It doesn't make any sense."

Sylvanas put a hand over Faith's, "Calm down."

"No! What they're saying is that Krasus betrayed Alexstrasza. And that's as likely to happen as my betraying you and allying myself with the Scourge! It just  _wouldn't happen._ "

"How else would you explain it?" asked Ganados.

"What does Alexstrasza say about it?"

Ganados shook his head, "Nothing. She's disappeared."

"Alexstrasza is gone?" asked Sylvanas.

Faith got to her feet, "You guys just  _let her go_?"

"There wasn't much we could do. She heard what we said about the fact that he had destroyed the temple, and she left. We couldn't really stop her, and we have no idea where she is."

Sylvanas suddenly took Faith's hand and tugged her away from the table. Faith struggled, but Sylvanas had always been physically stronger than her.

"Stop fighting me," she hissed. "And come here." She pushed her into an unoccupied room, closing the door behind them.

"What are you doing?"

"Dragging you away so that you can calm down. You're about ready to explode."

"So help me, Sylvanas, if you don't let me out –."

" _Calm down_."

Faith took a deep breath, "How can I possibly calm down? Krasus is  _dead_  and… they're accusing him of treason! Alexstrasza is  _missing_  and you want me to be calm?"

Sylvanas pulled her close, despite Faith struggling so hard that she would have hurt her had she been anybody else. "Damn it, Faith, stop fighting me."

"Sylvanas –."

"Shh. It's okay. You can let go with me."

"I don't have time to let go, Sylvanas. We need to make sure that Alexstrasza's okay."

"I think we can say beyond the shadow of a doubt that she's  _not_  okay. We both know what it's like to lose someone we love." Sylvanas kissed her, "You didn't die, but I didn't know that for two months. I lived on thinking that you were gone."

"Then we can't leave her alone. We have to find her, Sylvanas, we have to."

"We will, all right?" Sylvanas kissed her lips, "We will. We'll figure out what happened."

"You're going to help me?"

"Of course I am. You cared about Krasus, and I'll do everything I can to help you investigate his death."

"His death… oh, Sylvanas…" Faith let out a sob.

Sylvanas let her cry, her heart breaking all over again. Krasus had sincerely liked Faith, and from the little she had seen of their interactions over the years, she'd noticed a great respect between the two of them. To know that he was dead, and that Faith was suffering again, made her want to cry too.

Still shuddering, Faith moved away from Sylvanas, "Where do I start?"

"First, you pull yourself together." She spotted a nearby napkin and used it to clean Faith's face gently. "Then, you can work with the people who know Alexstrasza best to figure out where she might have gone."

"So I need to find the other Aspects."

Looking a little alarmed, Sylvanas stared at Faith, "You want to find the Wyrmrest Accord?"

"I have to. They've known her since the dawn of time, Sylvanas." Faith hiccupped, her lip trembling.

"Do you even know where to find them?"

"I h-have an idea, yes. They're somewhere in the Dragonblight."

"Not the safest place for you to be, even if the Scourge is inactive. I don't want you going there alone."

Faith hugged Sylvanas again, needing to be close to her, "I can't go with anybody. The dragons will never trust one of the Forsaken, even a mage, and I don't think that Rhonin will feel up to going."

"Being a mage, you might get along best with Kalecgos. He's the new Aspect of Magic."

Faith nodded against Sylvanas' shoulder, closing her eyes. "I hate this."

"I know. But you'll get through it."

"With you?"

"Always."

A couple of days later, Faith found herself on an Argent Crusade hippogryph, riding through a snowstorm in the Dragonblight. Ganados had advised her against going to the Wyrmrest Accord meeting, but had nevertheless given her the coordinates so that she could go there.

She flew over the Carrion Fields and the fallen fortress of Naxxramas, which brought back memories of being imprisoned there. She was almost seized with a desire to go inside the fortress to see whether she could find Kel'Thuzad's phylactery, but she had no time to waste. Looking on the horizon, she noticed that the landscape had changed. Wyrmrest Temple, which had once stood tall and proud in the frozen wasteland, had indeed been devastated by the explosion.

Only two walls remained of the structure from what she could tell, and a new crater at its base still seemed to crackle with arcane energy.

 _Oh, Master Krasus,_  she thought as tears froze on her face.  _What did you do? Why did you find that you had no other choice?_

Veering towards the mountains, she made her way towards the cave she knew the dragons to be. As she approached, she felt their power surrounding her, warning her against coming any closer.

"I  _must_  speak to you about the attack at Wyrmrest Temple!" she cried to the winds, once they had gotten strong enough to actually stop her mount from getting any closer to the cave.

" _Ah, it's Faith Everstone_ ," said a voice in her mind. " _She was a student of… well, she knows the Life-Binder_."

" _We do not let others enter here!_ "

" _We should hear her out, at least. Come on in, Faith._ "

The storm cleared so suddenly that her hippogryph nearly plummeted to the ground. A force seemed to catch her, leading her towards an enormous cave that seemed far too big to be allowed. Faith realized that it had been greatly enhanced by magic, so much so that it didn't even seem to be on one plane of existence.

"She has great power inside her," said someone. "Can you feel that?"

"Yes, but she is not only a user of light magic. I sense a darkness around her as well. And something else."

Faith swallowed, realizing that the last dragon who had spoken was none other than the Aspect of Time, Nozdormu. He was in humanoid form like everyone else in the cave, shimmering in and out of her field of vision, as though he weren't all there. Next to him stood Ysera the Dreamer, and Kalecgos, the newly appointed Aspect of Magic.

"Welcome, Faith Everstone," said the latter as she bowed to them, resisting the urge to let her jaw drop open at the sight before her. There must have been two hundred dragons of every dragonflight in the cave. The only flight not there was the black dragonflight, which of course belonged to Deathwing.

"Thank you," she said, biting her lip. "I was so sorry to hear about what happened." Her voice broke, and a tear ran down her cheek.

Ysera nodded, "It is not easy to have someone betray us."

"So you still think that Krasus betrayed you? How? He would have never done anything like that. Surely you must know it in your hearts."

"You seem to know a lot about it, young one," said Nozdormu. "Did Korialstrasz tell you anything before he died?"

"No."

"Then there's nothing for you to say. You may leave."

Faith glared at him, suddenly angry, "I realize that I'm not a dragon, and that the inner workings of the dragonflights are lost on me. But there's one thing I  _do_  know. Krasus was my mentor, and I knew him. I know that he loved Alexstrasza as much as I love Sylvanas, and he would have killed himself before betraying her!"

"Well, he did kill himself, didn't he? And he took the future of every dragonflight with him in the process!"

"He wouldn't have betrayed her! He loved her for thousands of years! Do you think that there is a force on this planet that could have honestly turned him against her?"

"You know nothing, Faith Everstone."

"I know enough to be certain that he would have never betrayed the one he loved. And I will prove it to you."

Ysera turned towards her, "And how will you do that?"

"First of all, I'm going to find Alexstrasza. She just lost her consort, and you let her disappear. I know that you've all suffered a blow, but you shouldn't let her suffer alone."

"Her children are already looking for her. If they cannot find her, what makes you think that you will?"

"I have to believe that I'll find her, just like I have to believe that Korialstrasz was not a traitor." She sighed, "I don't suppose you would have any idea of where to find her, would you?"

"No. But even if we did, it's not up to the lesser races to take care of this matter."

"Lord Nozdormu," said Faith through gritted teeth, "I hope that you will not find me impertinent, but I've had enough of this. Krasus' death hasn't only affected the dragonflights, it's affected all of us. What happens to you guys affects all of us, and we all need to work together in order to figure out what happened. And if you want to bring down Deathwing, you're going to need Alexstrasza."

Nozdormu stared at her, and for a moment, she was sure that he was going to strike her down. But he did nothing, merely blinking slowly.

"Let me help you. Krasus wasn't only my mentor, but my friend. I loved him like I would have a family member."

Kalecgos sighed, walking towards her, "How do you propose to find Alexstrasza, Faith?"

"If it's not too radical a suggestion, I was thinking of using magic. I talked it over with Rhonin before I came here. Krasus was a powerful mage, and his magic left a residue on the world. Alexstrasza, who spent the most time with him, most probably has some residue of this magic on her."

"Let's say for the sake of argument that this is the case. Wouldn't it have faded by now?" asked Ysera.

Faith shook her head, "Some magic takes years to dissipate fully. I think that I'll be able to find his traces around Azeroth which should lead me to the Life-Binder."

"It could take you years to find her that way."

Faith didn't think so, but she didn't mention that, instead thanking the Accord for listening to her. She took her leave, noting that Nozdormu was still looking at her strangely.

She had no clear idea of where to start, but something led her to Wyrmrest Temple. Its desolate appearance was sad to see. Would the dragons ever rebuild it? Could they get the sanctums back? The questions raced through her mind as her hippogryph touched down in one of the few areas that still felt safe.

Magical residue was everywhere. She could almost feel what had happened, and being here, she got the strong sense that she was right: Krasus hadn't done this out of betrayal.

 _It must have been horrible_ , she thought sadly.

She knelt near one of the walls, reaching out as though she were going to touch the arcane energies around her. And she did, in a way. As she murmured a complicated spell, the magic reacted, and in her mind, she saw wisps of violet and silver looping in circles around the temple. They were faint, but there, and she knew them for what they were: Alexstrasza looking for Krasus after the explosion.

Following the arcane lines, she saw them veering away from the temple, becoming fainter and fainter with each passing second.

"I guess that's the direction we should go in," she told the mount that was patiently waiting for her.

They began to fly, but it was obvious that wherever Alexstrasza had headed, it wasn't in Northrend, and the hippogryph couldn't fly the same way a dragon could. Landing in several Argent Crusade outposts, she asked the people there whether they hadn't seen her. In the third outpost, she was lucky.

"She was headed towards the Borean Tundra," said one of the soldiers. "At least I think she was."

Nodding, she decided to leave the creature with them so that it wouldn't tire itself out too much, and continued on her own, creating a portal to the village of Unu'pe, a Tuskarr settlement on the coast of the Borean Tundra. She had worked with these people before during the Northrend campaign, and they accepted her into their midst for a day while she tried to figure out her next move.

"We heard about what happened at the temple," said one of them, a large male called Poallu. "I was sorry for it. I never thought one of the reds would betray her, especially not him."

"I'm actually on a mission to prove that he  _didn't_  betray her. I don't think he would have done anything like that willingly."

Poallu nodded, "It would be welcome news. As welcome as it could be, under the circumstances."

She left the Tuskarr the following morning, following the magical energies all the way to Valiance Keep, the Alliance town that had been erected as a counterpart to Warsong Hold.

"She went to Kalimdor, then," she said to herself. "Unless she veered away mid-flight."

It was a place to start, at least. But Kalimdor was huge.

On a whim, she created a portal to Thunder Bluff, not expecting to find anything there, but wanting to talk to her family about what had happened.

"Faith!" cried Hamu when he saw her. Running to her, he hugged her. "What in the world are you doing here?"

She quickly gave him an overview of what Krasus had done, and he nodded grimly.

"We heard something about that." He put an arm around her and led her towards the home he and Ishaka shared on the Hunter Rise. It was smaller than the family home, but enough for the two of them. Ishaka was just outside, folding laundry, and she smiled when they arrived. "Look who I found!" called Hamu to her.

"This is a surprise!" she said, hugging her. "Are you all right?"

"Oh yes."

"We're just expecting Taisha and Atalo for dinner, so this is great timing! They'll be overjoyed to see you!"

She wasn't wrong about that. Her parents obviously hadn't expected to see her, and gave her happy hugs the moment they arrived.

"So you're looking for the Life-Binder," said Atalo. "You don't know where she could be?"

"She could be anywhere on Kalimdor. I'll have to perform my spell again to see whether I can sense Krasus' magic on her still."

"It's amazing that the magic lingers like that," said Ishaka. "Does yours?"

"You'd have to ask Sylvanas that. But it's like when you know someone by smell. In this case, it's much the same, except that I can sense him by magic."

Taisha nodded, "Is there anything we can do to help you find her?"

Faith thought for a moment, helping herself to a slice of buttered bread, "I think that the shaman could help. She is the Life-Binder, after all."

"We'll take a look in the morning," promise Atalo. "I'm sure that we'll find her."

"Why would she disappear like that, though?"

A sad smile, "She's grieving. Krasus is dead, and we don't know or understand what happened. The only thing people can say is that he betrayed her and killed her children in the process, along with every single other egg in the sanctums. I can't imagine what that's like for her."

Faith stayed awake that night, unable to go to sleep. She missed Sylvanas, and wished more than anything that she could be with her at that moment. Her heart ached for everything that had happened.

_Will we ever have peace? Will a day come when we will be able to be happy without having to worry that something will come to destroy everything we've built?_

"I don't know…" she whispered in the dark. "I don't know…"

* * *

 **Author's Note**  – This part of  _Almost Beyond_ , along with the next chapter, is taking place during the events of Thrall: Twilight of the Aspects. I've changed some tiny things in that timeframe to make them fit into the story. Namely, I've made the events happen a lot faster than in the book. I'm aware that Kalecgos was chosen as Aspect during The Embrace. For the sake of  _AB_ , I've simplified this. I do encourage you to read the book, because it's a really good one!


	26. Chapter 26

A new day dawned.

On a desolate terrain somewhere on Azeroth, a great red dragon lay on a rock, looking up at the sky while tears leaked from its eyes.

Alexstrasza didn't want to live anymore. Didn't want to feel anything.

_He's dead… he killed our children…_

She let out a roar that frightened the few creatures in the land she was in. It sounded more like a sob, and suddenly, she began to shake with her grief.

She was alone, and wanted it to remain that way.

Miles away, Faith opened her eyes. Smoke swirled around her from the shaman ritual that Atalo and his friends had performed, with some help from her magic.

"I saw her," she said quietly. "She's in pain… terrible pain."

Atalo put a hand on her shoulder, rubbing slowly, "Were you able to tell where she was?"

Faith took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She saw the land around Alexstrasza, a barren landscape with few scruffy bushes and some scorpids and kodos wandering around. "Desolace," she said. "At least that's what it looks like."

"Good," he said. "That considerably narrows down the search perimeter. We can go there today if you'd like. I have a friend who works there. He might be able to tell us where she is."

"You're coming with me?" she asked him.

"Of course I am. I can't pretend to know anything about dragons, but I'm not about to let you face something like this alone."

She leaned over and hugged him, "Thank you, Father."

"You're not going to try to talk me out of it?"

Faith shook her head, "I think I'm going to need help reaching her. She looked sick. Her scales aren't as red as they usually are. She…" Faith's voice broke. "She's crying."

"That's a normal reaction. It'll be all right, you'll see." He stood up and helped Faith to her feet, "Why don't we go get ready for this journey? Desolace isn't far from here, but I can't take a wind rider there because they can't carry me, so we'll have to go by kodo."

"I have a faster way to get to Desolace."

"Oh, you would, wouldn't you?"

"Ghost Walker Post would make a good base for us in Desolace. Hopefully she won't be too far away from there."

"A portal would certainly cut our travel time," nodded Atalo.

Faith thanked the other shaman who had helped with the ritual. "We couldn't have done it without you," she said to them.

"It was our pleasure. Good luck, Faith Everstone. What you are trying to do is no easy task."

She and Atalo took a portal to Ghost Walker Post that same afternoon, after having a quick bite to eat. It was colder there than on the Mulgore plains, and Faith wrapped a cloak around herself before the two of them made their way around the small outpost, looking for Atalo's friend.

They found him just outside it, busy tending to an injured kodo. He was talking quietly, and didn't acknowledge them immediately, even though he saw them approaching. Only when the animal was all right did he get up to greet them.

"Atalo, it is good to see you, old friend."

"It's good to see you. May I present my daughter Faith? Faith, this is the friend I was telling you about, Imano."

Faith smiled and greeted the elderly tauren warmly. "It's nice to meet you, Imano. Is your kodo all right?"

Imano looked down at the animal and nodded, "Oh yes, he's fine. But he's not my kodo. He's one of the young ones that wander around here with a pack that has an elder close to death. They come here to die, you know. Sometimes, a younger kodo gets separated from its herd, and inevitably gets injured. This one will be okay in a couple of days."

"Imano works for the Cenarion Circle," explained Atalo.

"Yes, I can see that," said Faith, having noticed his druidic robes. "I can see that you guys have been doing some work around here. I don't remember this place being green before."

"We've managed to make the wildlife grow back in some places. But some others remain obstinately empty." He gave the kodo a pat and watched it wander away, "So, what brings you here?"

"The Life-Binder. We got word, so to speak, that she's here."

Imano looked at them, his eyes wide, "The Life-Binder? I had heard of a dragon who had landed here, but I wasn't told that it was her."

"Do you know where she is exactly?" asked Faith.

"You should be able to see her from here, although she's further away than she looks." He brought them to a small tower. Climbing it, Faith was indeed able to see the silhouette of something that definitely resembled a dragon.

"It's definitely her," she said. "Could we borrow a mount, please?"

"Of course. The kodos will take you there swiftly."

"I'll come with you to take care of them," said Atalo. "That way you'll be able to talk to Alexstrasza alone."

"Thank you."

The two kodos Imano provided them with were gray beasts who almost seemed to blend in with the Desolace landscape. But they were friendly, allowing Faith and Atalo to handle them easily. Faith scratched hers behind the ears, which it seemed to appreciate, butting her hand gently. The animals indeed took them to Alexstrasza's location swiftly, although Faith privately thought that Lady would have taken her there faster.

"Look," said Atalo. "The land gets more and more barren the closer we get to her. Shouldn't it be the other way around?"

Faith's voice was sad, "Not if she's lost the will to live." She stopped her kodo, "You stay here with them where it's still green, that way, they'll be able to graze. I'll continue on foot."

Atalo gave a nod, "All right. But be careful. You don't know what she's going to do to you."

"Don't worry, I'll be all right."

Slowly, Faith made her way to Alexstrasza, finding that she could hear the great dragon crying. Her heart tightened in her chest, bringing with it a familiar sense of loss. As she got closer to her, she saw that her scales her graying, the color being sapped from her.

"Oh, Alexstrasza," she said quietly.

The dragon gave no indication of having heard her. When Faith hoisted herself upon the cold rock Alexstrasza was lying on, there was no reaction. Nor was there any reaction when Faith cautiously put a hand on her head, wiping away a tear that was the size of her hand.

"I'm so sorry," whispered Faith. "So sorry. He was an amazing dragon. I didn't know him long enough, I don't think there's ever enough time to get to know someone, but I cared for him. And he loved you, Alexstrasza. He loved you so much." She wiped away another tear, from her own face this time, and took a seat, still stroking Alexstrasza's face however she could. "He's the one who taught me all about the Dragonblight," she told her. "Remember? He took me flying when I was at Wyrmrest Temple."

Nothing. Alexstrasza kept crying, not making any other sound. It didn't look like she had eaten anything nor had anything to drink since Krasus had killed himself, but Faith knew better than to try to force her to eat. And even if she'd had a mind to do it, how did one go about forcing a dragon to do anything?

"He told me about the years when the two of you were apart because he was busy with us lesser races, but that he would always teleport himself to you so that you could be together for a short while every day. He also told me about the first clutch you hatched together."

She continued speaking, going on for hours and telling Alexstrasza everything she could remember about Krasus, sharing all of the good memories she had of him.

"I don't believe that he betrayed you. He couldn't have done. He loved you too much for it. There must have been a good reason for him to do what he did." She used a handkerchief to wipe at Alexstrasza's tears, for all the good it did, "He wouldn't have wanted you to let go."

There still was no response, so, finally, unable to continue speaking anymore, Faith quieted herself, resting her head against the dragon's shoulder. She felt mentally and physically exhausted, falling asleep without meaning to.

Her dreams were plagued by darkness. She saw Wyrmrest Temple as it had been, but something was horribly wrong there. An evil had seeped into its very walls, turning everything black and cold. What it was, she couldn't tell, but a moment later, the entire structure exploded from the ground up, destroying everything that was inside, including the budding evil.

She woke up with a scream, immediately wrapped in a chilly embrace.

"Shh, Faith, it's all right, my darling."

"Sylvanas…" whispered Faith.

"See? She always knows me," said Sylvanas to someone. She brushed a soft kiss over Faith's lips, "Are you okay?"

Faith shook her head, wrapping her arms around Sylvanas. "No. I'm not okay."

"The dragon is cold," said someone. Thrall.

Cold? Faith looked around. Alexstrasza's scales had discolored further, and it didn't take a dragon to realize that the Life-Binder was dying. "No!" she cried. "Alexstrasza, you have to fight this! I had a dream… Wyrmrest Temple was dark. Something evil was in it, and it  _wasn't_ Korialstrasz!" Tears spilled from her eyes as Sylvanas pulled her away and Thrall stepped forward, casting a few spells around the dragon. But it did absolutely no good.

Sylvanas cursed softly.

"We can't just let her die!" screamed Faith. "I had that dream for a reason!"

"Because you've put an enormous amount of pressure on yourself, Faith. You saw what you wanted to see, so that things could make sense to you."

" _No._  Sylvanas… I knew Krasus. He didn't do this to betray her, I know it!"

Sylvanas put a hand over Faith's mouth, "I know, baby. I know that's what you need to believe. And I'm going to help prove you right. Thrall has been through a lot lately, and he has an idea of what went on."

"What do you mean?" asked Faith.

"I've been sent back in time… in another timeline."

"When?"

"Just after the Temple was attacked, as far as I understood. Nozdormu did it."

Faith blinked, "I don't understand. I just saw him a few days ago."

"Right. For me, more than a few days have passed. If I had to really think about it, I've spent weeks in several alternate timelines. It would take longer than I have to give you the whole story. Just know that I saw a future that was completely different than this one, and that some forces from this timeline have seeped into this one."

"You're confusing her, Thrall," said Sylvanas.

"My trip through the timelines brought me into contact with Krasus."

"You saw Krasus?"

He nodded, "Not just him. I also saw Blackmoore. A Blackmoore who came to full power by killing King Terenas Menethil. He's the one who has come into  _our_  time."

Faith closed her eyes for a second, "Just so I understand things… Nozdormu sent you back in time, to an alternate timeline, where you saw a different future where Blackmoore, who used to keep you prisoner, killed King Terenas. And now, this version of Blackmoore has come here." She waited for Thrall to nod before she went on, "Why would he do that? And why would Nozdormu send you back in time?"

"What you need to know here is that the Old Gods are at work."

"The Old Gods. They have something to do with what happened at Wyrmrest Temple?"

"That's something I can't be sure of, and that's why I'm here. Sylvanas told me that you were looking for a way to clear Krasus' name, which is why decided to join you." He cleared his throat, "When I met Krasus, even in the alternate timeline, I got the impression that he wouldn't betray the Life-Binder. Just in the way he spoke, I could tell that he loved her immensely, the way you love Sylvanas."

Faith pressed her lips together in an attempt to keep from crying, "Krasus and Alexstrasza were life mates for over ten thousand years. I think that their love was something else entirely."

Thrall nodded, "That may be. In any case, I believe, like you do, that he didn't do any of this on purpose." He looked at Alexstrasza, then back at Faith. "Blackmoore is at the service of a new dragonflight called the Infinite Dragonflight."

"The what?"

"The Infinite Dragonflight. It's a new dragonflight who serves the Old Gods."

"And Nozdormu knows about them because he's present in multiple times and places," said Sylvanas.

"Exactly. Not just that but… They come from a timeline where Nozdormu lost his mind and renamed himself Murozond, creating this dragonflight."

Faith suddenly felt dizzy, "I need to sit down," she said. Sylvanas put an arm around her, helping her to sit on Alexstrasza's rock again. "Nozdormu is the one who created this dragonflight? And he's after you?"

"His alternate self, yes. He's sent Blackmoore after me because he obviously doesn't want me to succeed. He wants to destroy the Aspects. At least, that's what I understood."

"Alexstrasza dying of grief would accomplish that," said Faith. She put a hand against Alexstrasza's neck, "You said that the Infinite Dragonflight is working for the Old Gods?"

Thrall nodded.

"So we can assume that the Twilight's Hammer might have had something to do with what happened at Wyrmrest Temple?"

"Maybe. But I don't see how they would have known that this attack would cripple her like that."

"Is there a way we can find out what happened there?"

Thrall thought for a moment, "There is. I met a bronze drake in the timeways, and he gave me something that we could use with a spell. It would bring our consciousness back to that time, so that we could see the events for ourselves. It's like a vision quest, so to speak."

"Count me in," said Faith right away.

Sylvanas stepped forward, "You can't be serious! You could die!"

"I  _will not_  let people keep thinking that Krasus betrayed everyone he loved. You would do the same thing for me, and I would do it for you."

"I don't like it."

Faith smiled, taking Sylvanas' hand, "I know. Look, Atalo's not far away. Why don't you go get him so that the two of you can watch over Alexstrasza while we do this? We won't start without you, I promise."

Sylvanas gave her a look, but complied, walking towards where she had seen Atalo standing near a dead tree. The moment he realized that she was coming to talk to him, he stepped forward, the two kodo following him.

"Sylvanas," he said. "I didn't realize you were going to be a part of this journey."

"I wasn't. But Faith needs me, so here I am."

"Does she need me too?"

"As a matter of fact, she does."

They walked back towards Faith and Thrall, who had started a small fire and were sitting cross-legged on opposite sides of each other. "… can repeat the same phrase in Thalassian," he was telling her, opening a small pouch.

"All right."

"You look worried, Faith," commented Atalo, having bowed respectfully to Thrall.

"No, why should I be nervous? We're only going back in time…"

"Only our consciousness," Thrall told her. "Our bodies will remain here. We will simply witness the events as bystanders, we won't actually partake in them."

"Faith, what are you thinking?" asked Sylvanas a little too perceptively.

Faith blushed, "Nothing."

Thrall looked at her in understanding, "You want to go back in time and alter the events of the Third War?"

"That would be something, wouldn't it?" she whispered. "No. I've come to terms with what happened. Kind of."

Sylvanas uttered a noise between a scream and a laugh, "You've come to terms with what happened to me? Since when?"

"I won't go back to change the timeline, don't worry. I wouldn't even know how to do that anyway."

"I went through the Caverns of Time," said Thrall.

Atalo shook his head, "Please don't give her any ideas."

"Come to terms…" muttered Sylvanas. "That's new. You still cry about it."

Faith sighed, "Are we going to do this or not?"

"Yes." Thrall untied his pouch, plunging his hand inside and taking out a shimmery gold substance from within while Sylvanas placed herself behind Faith, "Oh spirits of the Winds and Time, hear my call and give us the clarity to see what we do not understand. Allow us to go back to the day Wyrmrest Temple was attacked so that we might gain the knowledge we seek."

Faith took some of the gold sand and repeated his words in Thalassian. Together, they threw the sand in the fire. Almost immediately, the flames began to shimmer, and Faith got so dizzy that she blacked out. Having expected this, Sylvanas caught her and laid her against her own body, keeping her arms around her. Opposite her, Atalo made sure Thrall was as comfortable as possible.

"And now we wait," he said to Sylvanas.

Sylvanas made no comment, her eyes on her lover's face.

Faith felt Sylvanas with her, but her mind was gone in a blurred world of times past. When everything stopped moving, she found herself standing next to Thrall in a place she instantly knew to be the Ruby Sanctum. It was beautiful, filled with ruby-red light. The trees were in bloom, smelling green and alive. A perfect place in which to hatch young dragon whelps.

Korialstrasz was there in his dragon form, looking over several egg clutches. Faith estimated that there were at least three hundred brilliantly red eggs there, all looking healthy.

Her heart tightened, and in Sylvanas' arms, she began to cry.

"Oh, Krasus…"

"What is he doing?" asked Thrall.

But the dragon answered that question himself. He was going from clutch to clutch, speaking to the eggs quietly, telling them stories of valor about great dragons in flight.

"He's being a father," whispered Faith. "He's telling them bedtime stories…"

Krasus stopped talking suddenly and looked around, alert. Moving quickly, he looked behind a rocky outcrop behind which were more eggs. Faith and Thrall followed him, seeing, to their horror that several people in dark robes were there, casting spells on the eggs. As they watched, the eggs went from being a beautiful red to turning a sickly kind of reddish-gray.

"Ah. So one of them is home," said one of the people, a man by the sound of him.

"By the Sunwell, it  _was_  the Twilight's Hammer," hissed Faith.

The eggs began to hatch immediately, cracking open to reveal the foul odor of sickness. The whelps that emerged from these eggs were only half-formed, some of them missing limbs or a wing. They writhed on the floor, crying out in what was obviously pain.

For a moment, Krasus could only look horrified before he realized that the spell was spreading quickly to all the eggs within the sanctum.

"Look, Warchief!" cried Faith. "It's everywhere!"

There was nothing either of them could do. Eggs began to crack open all over the place, as the men advanced on Krasus. He began performing spells, killing the cultists where they stood. As he did so, his tail brushed against one of the infected eggs.

He froze.

"Krasus!" cried Faith.

One of the men began to laugh, "There is nothing you can do. The chromatic infection has passed to you, and it will pass to every single dragon you touch! By now, our colleagues will have reached all of the sanctums to take possession of every egg there."

Krasus looked down at his tail, seeing his scales beginning to discolor at an alarming rate. He glanced at the whelps hatching and giving little cries, belching yellow flames from their misshapen mouths and setting fire to the grass within the sanctum.

"You will not succeed," he said quietly. He looked up, "My beloved…" A tear fell from his eye as he began to cast a spell. Faith screamed as the world went a brilliant white.

Sylvanas grabbed her as she jerked awake, crying out Krasus' name at the top of her lungs.

"Faith!"

Thrall woke up as well, his skin ashen by the experience. His whole body shaking, he sat up, running a hand over his eyes while Sylvanas wrapped her arms around Faith, trying to calm her down.

"It's okay, Faith, it's okay…" she whispered.

"It's  _not_! Krasus didn't betray anybody!" Sobbing, she explained what she and Thrall had seen, unable to look at anybody as she did so.

"Spirits have mercy," said Atalo when she finished speaking. Even Sylvanas looked shocked by the tale, and she wasn't one to be shocked by much anymore.

"So, he didn't betray Alexstrasza," she said in a low voice. "He sacrificed himself to save the ones he loved."


	27. Chapter 27

Sacrificed himself for the ones he loved.

Faith took Sylvanas' hand in hers, looking directly into her eyes. Sylvanas saw a hundred things on Faith's face, and kissed her, "I know, my darling. I know."

"I love you," whispered Faith.

"I love you too."

Faith slowly got up, wiping at her eyes and walking to Alexstrasza. The red dragon had moved. Her head was turned, and she was looking at all of them.

"You… you saw this?" she asked.

"We did," answered Faith. "I told you he could have never betrayed you."

Alexstrasza began to transform so that she turned into a humanoid. She was so weak that this took a while, and once she was done, she collapsed into Faith's arms.

"We need to tell the other Aspects about this."

"It'll take us days to get to them!" cried Thrall.

"Yes," said Sylvanas. "Too bad we don't have a mage with us to get us to Dalaran."

"Alexstrasza needs to eat first," said Faith. "You're in no condition to do anything right now."

The Life-Binder looked at her, her eyes vulnerable, "He really loved me?"

"You don't need me to tell you this, Alexstrasza. You know he loved you more than anybody else in the world. His last thoughts were of you."

"She's right," said Thrall. "You called each other  _beloved_ , didn't you?"

Alexstrasza burst into tears, and Faith could do nothing but hold her. Her chin trembled, and she felt Sylvanas next to her, rubbing her back.

"He was a hero," said Thrall. "We can't let his sacrifice be in vain. We must fight back against the Twilight's Hammer now. Who knows what they're up to?"

"First things first," said Faith. "We need to get her back to the other Aspects. They'll help her." She conjured some water in a goblet, "Please drink this."

It took a few minutes, but Alexstrasza managed to take the water and eat a few strips of dried meat that Atalo had with him. He and Thrall helped her step through the portal to Dalaran once Faith had conjured it, although she looked worse by the time they arrived in the magical city.

Rhonin got word of their arrival and met them close to his house, offering them all a meal. He and Vereesa listened attentively as Faith and Thrall recounted their vision, asking a few questions here and there. Alexstrasza just watched them, her eyes wet with tears.

"So that's what Nozdormu meant when Krasus and I went back to the War of the Ancients," said Rhonin quietly.

"What?" Faith stared at him, "What do you mean?"

"He apologized to Krasus about what was going to happen to him. If his alternate self, Murozond, is working with the Twilight's Hammer, I understand why he said back then that he was sorry."

Faith momentarily put her head in her hands, "Look, I can barely deal with the present we have. I don't think I can deal with something that was said or done ten thousand years ago…"

Rhonin squeezed her hand, "I will talk to the Council about Krasus. We did get news of someone called the Twilight Father, but we have no idea who he is, only that he might have something to do with what happened. We have heard that he kidnapped a blue dragon, Kirygosa, but nothing else so far."

"A blue dragon was kidnapped?"

"Kalec is already on it. So is one of the other blues, Arygos."

Alexstrasza flinched, "What is he planning on doing with her, do you know?"

"We can only guess. I can tell you that something else happened at Wyrmrest Temple."

"Something else?" asked Alexstrasza.

"It looks like the twilight drakes have taken over it. Well, whatever's left of it. They're starting to rebuild it with magic."

"That is not the best news I've heard all week, Rhonin," Faith told him. She got to her feet, "We have to get to the other Aspects."

"They're here for now," said Vereesa. "I'll call them so that you can talk to them."

Half an hour later, all of them were seated together in Rhonin's living room, while Vereesa took the twins out to play. Ysera sat with Alexstrasza, keeping an arm around her and feeding her little by little.

"I should have known better than to think Korialstrasz a traitor," said Nozdormu in a quiet voice. "I'm sorry I ever doubted him. And I'm sorry I doubted you, Faith."

"It's all right," Faith told him, a sad smile on her face. "You didn't have all the facts."

"Still. We should have been the ones to look. We knew him for over ten thousand years."

"You knew Neltharion for longer, and he still turned out to be insane. You had to err on the side of caution in aftermath of the Cataclysm."

He nodded, still not fully convinced, "So. Now that we know what happened there, what are we going to do about it?"

They were silent for a moment. Faith touched Sylvanas' hand for comfort, aware that she would be going back to Undercity soon.

"We also have other things to deal with," said Thrall after a few minutes. "We can't let them go unchecked."

"A dragonflight led by a future Aspect of Time that lives in alternate timelines," murmured Faith. "Please explain how in the world we're supposed to defeat them."

"You'll have to meet them in their time," said Nozdormu. "That will be the easy bit. But you'll need to stop Murozond as well."

"Oh, is that all?"

"Yes. You should do it, Faith."

" _Me_?" she cried.

"We have to take care of the situation at the temple. We need someone to take care of the Infinite Dragonflight, and I trust you to do it."

Faith didn't know what to say. She swallowed, "While I appreciate your trust… why me?"

"Korialstrasz spoke of you favorably several times. You're an extremely capable mage, and your skills are exactly what will be needed to face the dragonflight and their… friends."

"You already know how this is going to end," said Sylvanas. "So why don't you tell us what it is that she has to face?"

"It's best if she doesn't know."

Sylvanas got to her feet, "You're expecting her to go face a dragonflight with no idea of what she's going to be up against?"

"Sylvanas, relax," whispered Faith, taking her hand and pulling her back down.

"You want me to relax when… fine. I'm coming with you."

"Absolutely not. Your place is in Undercity." Sylvanas tried to protest, but Faith dragged her away from the table. "Don't be ridiculous, Sylvanas. The Val'kyr may not work in this alternate timeline. If anything happens to you and I can't bring you back, what will I do? What will  _Undercity_  do?"

"And what am I supposed to do if anything happens to you? What if your hearthstone doesn't work there? How will you get back home?"

"She'll be able to get back," said Nozdormu. "Of that I have no doubt. Besides, she won't be going alone."

Sylvanas rounded on him, "She won't?"

"Of course not. Chronormu will be going with her, along with a team of her choosing. And I suggest you don't get too picky between the Horde and the Alliance. This won't be easy, and you ought to pick people from each side if you'd like to succeed."

Faith nodded, "That's fine with me. Can you at least tell me what I'm up against? Or whom?"

The Aspect of Time shimmered in and out of existence, "You'll have to go to the Caverns of Time," he said. "Chronormu will guide you to where you need to go. It will be a barren land, and Murozond will have created portals there to bring evil versions of people you know to our time. If he succeeds in doing that, you may not be able to defeat them at all."

"Evil versions of people I know," said Faith slowly. Her eyes snapped to Sylvanas, "Like who?"

"There is no way to tell. But the Infinite Dragonflight will expect you to be there. So far, my children in the Caverns have been able to keep them from crossing over, but if they manage to get through…" his voice trailed off. "Everyone going through one of the portals fuels one for Murozond."

"Right. So, basically, after I kill these evil versions of people I know… I'll have to face a future version of you that's insane. And if we don't defeat them, they'll come through and in so doing will create a portal for Murozond to get through."

"That's the essence of it."

"And you don't mind telling me to kill you?"

"It's the way it needs to be."

"Is that all, or would you like me to do anything else?"

Nozdormu shook his head, "Other bronze drakes have gone to the Caverns of Time to intercept the infinite drakes in different areas of our timeline. In one of them, they wanted to stop Arthas culling Stratholme."

Faith and Sylvanas both made odd sounds at the mention of Arthas. "Stopping him would mean changing everything, wouldn't it? Had Arthas not gone to Stratholme, the Light would have never forsaken him. He might have never gone to Northrend and…"

"Everything would be different," finished Rhonin, looking pointedly at Faith.

"Yes. In any case, my flight has succeeded in taking care of those events. The only one left is the one I'd like you to handle. I know that you would like to track down and kill the one responsible for what happened to your mentor, but that's up to us."

Faith looked at Alexstrasza, who nodded. "I should help them take care of the ones who had him killed. He was my beloved." Her lip trembled, but the look in her eyes suddenly hardened, "And I  _will_  make them pay for what they did. Just like you made Arthas pay for what he did to the one you love."

"Well said, sister," said Ysera. "And we will help you."

They adjourned their meeting a few minutes after that, the Aspects going their way while Faith immediately made plans to send word to as many people as she could for this mission to the Caverns.

"Would you mind if I borrowed Carrick for this?" she asked Sylvanas.

"Of course not. I was going to insist that you bring him."

Faith nodded gratefully, "I'll go to Hearthglen and see whether anybody from the Crusade would be willing to join me. In fact, I should probably do this now. And I'll send word to the Cenarion Circle. Maybe they would also be interested, what do you think?"

"I thought they were busy on Mount Hyjal?"

"Ah… you're right."

"Look closer to home. Ask the Magi Corps, I'm sure they'll all come with you. And if you go to Silvermoon, you should be able to find some others willing to fight as well."

Sylvanas wasn't wrong. Faith sent word to all corners of Azeroth with Chronormu's help, the bronze drake who preferred to be known as Chromie when she was in her humanoid form. She got word back almost immediately from members of the Argent Crusade, including Haldren, who said he would be more than happy to fight alongside her once more. He would be bringing over a young Draenei paladin named Xara who, according to him, showed a lot of promise.

The Earthen Ring also answered her call, despite being busy in Deepholm against the Twilight's Hammer. Daegon said that he would come by with three other dwarves, and, surprisingly, she got word that Atalo would come as well.

"No," said Faith to Sylvanas. "He can't come…"

"Faith, he may not be your biological father, but he loves you, and he doesn't want you to do this alone."

"I won't be alone! Even two night elves will be coming from the Cenarion Circle. That's eight members of the Alliance, one dragon, and eleven members of the Horde. Atalo really doesn't need to be there."

"Of course he does. If you weren't so set in your ways, I'd join you too."

"Sylvanas, you  _can't_."

"Yes, I heard you. It doesn't stop the fact that I really don't want you to go without me. Last time you went off on any kind of mission, you nearly died."

"Baby, I nearly die every day."

"My feelings remain the same on this subject, Faith."

Faith sighed, "All right. I validate that."

"Gee, thanks a lot."

"You know what I mean!" she cried. "I know you're worried, and so am I, to be honest. Last time I was away from you, you actually did die, so how am I supposed to feel?"

"It's not the same."

"Yes it is. We hate being away from each other, and every time we are, it scares us."

"Worries us."

"Scares us. Admit it, you're terrified. I sure am."

"Don't tell me that. I'll never let you go."

"Of course you'll let me go. The alternative is to allow this other timeline to spill over into ours, creating a nightmarish situation. We don't want this to happen, do we?"

Sylvanas didn't answer, merely pouting a little. Faith kissed her.

"I'll see you soon," she said.

"No, you won't. You don't know how long this is going to take you. It could take a year. It's an alternate timeline, so things might move faster or slower for you than for me. What might be a few days for you could be a few months here. We just don't know, do we?"

Sudden fear gripped Faith's heart. She hadn't considered how much time would pass in this alternate timeline. Something must have shown on her face, because Sylvanas immediately hugged her.

"No matter how long it takes, I'll be here waiting for you, I promise."

It was with some trepidation that Faith left Undercity the following day. Rotvine was with her, along with three Silvermoon City rangers who had served under Sylvanas before the Third War. Chromie picked them up with members of the Alliance at Hearthglen, and together, they stepped through a portal that led them to the Caverns of Time, which were located in the burning desert of Tanaris.

"I haven't been here in a long time," said Faith as they arrived.

"To the Caverns?" asked Chromie.

"Nobody would ever let me near the Caverns of Time unsupervised," she replied. "I meant to Tanaris. I came here once maybe eight years ago, but that was just to see someone in Gadgetzan."

"Well, the Caverns are interesting to see. Come on, I'll show you."

It was obvious as soon as they walked into the enormous caves that there was a lot of magic within them. Faith could feel it pulsating from the very sand they walked on. As they went deeper and deeper, they noticed perfectly preserved ancient relics from times long gone by, and one glimpse into a side cave caused Faith to stop in her tracks for a moment as she saw home.

She gasped. It  _was_  home. Everstone Village. She recognized the fountain in the village square. And standing next to it… "It can't be…"

Chromie took her hand, "Faith, please. You shouldn't dwell on the past."

A shaky laugh, "Maybe I can come back some other time. You know, like when the world isn't about to end."

"By the Dark Lady," whispered Rotvine. "That's what she looked like when she was alive?"

"No wonder yeh fell fer her, lassie!" called Haldren.

The image was distorted and faint, but Sylvanas was perfectly recognizable through the veil of time that separated the present from the past. Faith nodded. "I'd forgotten how brightly her hair shined in the sun." She swallowed and looked at Chromie, "Why are all these time portals here? I mean, anybody could go inside."

"They couldn't. Our magic is very strong, don't forget that. The only reason you were even allowed in here is because the Time Lord himself has allowed us to be here. Otherwise, you wouldn't have been able to enter, much less see these side caves. They're here so that we might remember some key moments in time in relation to what's going on now."

"What relation could that day by the fountain possibly have to now?"

"I think that's the day Sylvanas realized she wanted to marry you."

Shock. Faith didn't know what to say to that. She blinked once, keeping tears at bay by sheer force of will. "Well, okay then," she finally whispered. "We'd better move on before I do something crazy. We have work to do."

On and on they walked, passing various members of the bronze dragonflight, who nodded to Chromie and looked at the others curiously.

"Sylvanas told me that time was probably going to move differently where we're going. Is that true?"

"Undoubtedly, yes, although I cannot tell you whether it will move slower or faster. We could come back here to find that a year had passed, or just a couple of days. There's no way to really know." She stopped in front of a side cave, "But we're about to find out. We're here."

They looked through the veil of time, but could see absolutely nothing. Everything was dark.

"Why does it look like that?" asked Atalo.

"Because sometimes it's best for people to not know what the future holds," answered Chromie.

"I'll go in first," said Faith. "Carrick, you follow after me, please, and be ready to cast as soon as you step through, as there's no telling what we're going to find."

Rotvine nodded, "After you, then."

Taking a deep breath, Faith walked through the veil arriving on the other side of what appeared to be the end of the world.

The land she stood on was packed dirt of a dark gray hue that looked a little like ash. The skies were covered in dark clouds as far as the eye could see. Occasionally, lightning flashed, briefly illuminating the clouds, but she could immediately tell that this wasn't a normal storm.

She couldn't tell where she was. The only place on Azeroth that even remotely resembled the area she was in was Desolace, and even that held more life than what was there.

Rotvine landed next to her and cursed softly, "Whatever happened here, it wasn't good at all," he said.

"No, it wasn't…"

While the others stepped through the veil and into this new world, Faith looked around for signs of life. A tree, a shrub, even a spider would have done.

But there was nothing. Merely an air that was hot and dry, nearly scalding. Something evil was afoot. She pulled her cloak tighter around her, wishing Sylvanas were with her.

"Yeh'll find more cheer in a graveyard," whispered Haldren. "Even the Plaguelands are better than this."

Faith had to agree. As ugly as they were to look at, the Plaguelands at least showed signs of life, albeit corrupted.

"But there is something here. We haven't arrived in an empty timeline. Chromie, can you guide us through?"

The dragon nodded, "I sure can. Can you guess where we are?"

"Somewhere on Azeroth after the end of the world?" asked Atalo, stepping closer to Faith. "Nowhere on our planet is that desolate, not even Northrend."

"That's right. This is a portion of our actual timeline that could come to light if the Burning Legion were to successfully invade Azeroth."

"A chunk of land where nothing lives anymore," said one of the rangers, bending down to touch the ground. He shuddered. "It almost looks like the Burning Steppes."

Atalo shook his head, "Except that the Burning Steppes have life. Never mind the Dark Iron dwarves, but you have lava spiders, elementals and other creatures around there. It's not much life that I like, but it's life nevertheless. This… this is nothing."

"We are in the Dragonblight," said Chromie.

Faith stared at her, "The Dragonblight? But… how? It doesn't look like…"

"But it is. Follow me."

In groups of two, they followed Chromie through the wasteland that had once been the snow-covered bastion of the dragonflights.

"Nozdormu didn't tell you everything, by the way, about why you're here."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it is true that he wants to stop this new dragonflight from taking over Azeroth. But there's an artifact he needs to withdraw from time itself, something we will need to fight Deathwing."

"The Dragon Soul," said Haldren quietly. "We've bin talkin' about it."

"And it's here?" asked Rotvine, sounding aghast.

"No. But Murozond must be stopped before we can get to it."

Faith shook her head slowly, "You know, it would have been great to have all the facts before we made our way here."

"I'm sorry. We didn't want to burden you with too many things. You're going through enough as it is." She pointed ahead, and Faith saw a structure she recognized, "There you go, look."

"That's Wyrmrest Temple," said Faith. "But… what is that impaled on it?"

"Deathwing. You see, this is a future where nobody stopped him, and he, in turn allowed the Legion to invade Azeroth. The Burning Legion took everything from this world and killed him. Only a few living creatures remain, and they tend to stay far away from this place, even though the continents are no longer what they used to be and it's not easy to avoid it."

Something occurred to Faith, "But Thrall said that Blackhand had come from this timeway. How is that possible if it's  _our_  future?"

"Murozond found a way to bring him here from somewhere else. It would take too long for me to explain the mechanics to you."

Wiping a hand across her mouth, Faith looked at her companions before turning back towards Chromie, "What are we supposed to do, then?"

"Murozond has four lieutenants here, each of them in one of the dragonshrines."

"I suppose that since he's Nozdormu, that he'll actually be in the Bonze Dragonshrine?" asked one of the mages who was standing with Rotvine.

"That's correct. The others are in the four other shrines."

"Then we should split up," said Faith. "Each of us can take one of the lieutenants."

"Is that wise, sweetheart? We're stronger together."

"Faith is right, Atalo. If one of them is attacked, the others will converge on that shrine to come and help. And believe me, that's not what you want at all."

"Who should go where?" wondered Rotvine.

The two night elves spoke up, "We're druids. We will take the Emerald Dragonshrine."

Faith gave a nod, "Krasus was my mentor. I'll take the Ruby Dragonshrine."

"I'll come with you," said Atalo, Rotvine, and Haldren almost at the same time.

"I'll come too," said Xara, the Draenei paladin. She hadn't said anything since they had arrived, and now looked horrified to be standing where she was.

Chromie looked at them all, "All right. Everyone else split up, and make your way to the shrines. I'll make sure that you get there quickly. Once you have defeated the lieutenants, we'll meet back here at the temple."

Moments later, they were all on their way. Faith and her group got to their destination remarkably fast, and Faith quietly thanked Chromie for giving them speed.

"By the Sunwell," murmured Faith.

The Ruby dragonshrine had once been full of beauty, even as a graveyard for Alexstrasza's flight. But as soon as they approached it, Faith smelled the familiar stench of the dead. She saw undead mindlessly shambling around, losing an arm here a foot there, oblivious to anything around them.

And standing next to what had been a great tree that had long-since died, was a familiar figure looking up at them.

Sylvanas.

* * *

**Author's note – Those of you who have done Cataclysm dungeons will realize where we are here: End Time. Yes, I've changed it around to suit my needs, but I hope it's not too jarring for you!**


	28. Chapter 28

Sylvanas.

She began to laugh, and the sound was horrifying, sending atrocious chills up and down Faith's spine.

"Why, Faith, my darling. What are  _you_  doing here?" She spoke quietly, but her voice carried to all corners of the dragonshrine, sending skeletal birds flying for cover.

"I should ask you the same question, Sylvanas," she answered.

"I live here, and have done for quite some time. Do you like what I've done with the place?"

Faith raised a hand and incinerated the nearest undead, which burst into flames with an otherworldly screech. "Frankly, I think it could use some redecorating." She began to walk down the slope, followed by the others, who were already slaying whatever undead creatures were at Sylvanas' mercy. "What happened?"

"The End happened," said Sylvanas.

"My Lady," said Rotvine. "How… How did you get here?"

"Why, Carrick Rotvine. Risen from the dead again, it seems. You certainly didn't survive the Burning Legion's invasion. Only a select few of us managed that feat."

Sylvanas looked wild. Her clothes were more tattered than usual, and the stench coming off her was so potent that Xara vomited on the spot, covering her mouth with her hand.

"What happened to you, Sylvanas?" asked Faith. She almost couldn't breathe. Stench aside, her heart was hammering so hard in her chest that she felt like she was about to faint.

The banshee laughed again. This laughter was dark, evil, and the look in Sylvanas' eyes suggested that she had reverted back to what she had been when Arthas had turned her: an agent of the Scourge capable of inflicting terrible pain and suffering.

"Oh, it's too late for that, Faith. I haven't forgotten the way you used to make me feel. But those feelings disappeared the day you died." Another bout of humorless laughter. Sylvanas ripped a piece of skin from her cheek, exposing raw muscle beneath.

"That would explain it," said Haldren quietly.

Sylvanas was still speaking, "I couldn't bring you back. Not again. And I tried with all my might."

"Bring me back  _again_?" asked Faith. Again?

"She wouldn't…" said Rotvine. "You raised her, didn't you?"

"It didn't make a difference in the end," whispered Sylvanas, talking to herself. "You still died when the Legion came. You were one of the first ones to die." Her voice got quieter and quieter, but they still heard every word she spoke. "They came through Tirisfal Glades when you were out. I never saw you again. Someone found your body near Brill and brought you to me."

Faith stepped forward, ignoring Rotvine's pleas to stay put.

"Sylvanas."

She looked up at her. Her eyes were insane, their glow blood red. "You died alone, and I couldn't save you."

"It wasn't your fault, Sylvanas. No matter what, I always loved you. I never wanted to leave you, not for a second."

Sounds of fighting erupted behind Faith, and she heard the snarls of the undead, but she didn't dare turn away from Sylvanas, who probably would have killed her in her state.

"I don't blame you. You know that, right? You understand that I don't blame you for what happened? You shouldn't blame yourself either." Faith's voice broke, "You need to keep fighting for what we had, Sylvanas."

"In the grand scheme of things, we had nothing. Baine lost everything too, and he's here. So is Tyrande. So is Jaina. We all lost. And we all survived."

"You survived to what? This? This wasteland that has nothing to do with everything that we knew? This is what you live for now, Sylvanas? To inflict pain on the few living creatures who come near you?"

"You died. I had nothing else after that."

"You always had me, Sylvanas. Dead or alive, I was always yours."

"Faith!" cried Rotvine.

Faith turned her head, seeing an abomination bigger even than the ones she had seen while fighting the Scourge. Xara was on the ground, still alive, but sporting a nasty wound to her abdomen. Atalo was doing everything he could for her, but things looked bleak.

"Call them off, Sylvanas. Please. I'm not dead now, in my time. And you're fine. We're together."

"It's just delaying the inevitable. I'll be quick with you. You won't feel any pain." She smiled, and the skin of her lips split open, bleeding black ichor.

"I love you. I have always loved you, and I will always love you."

"You're dead. You can't love anyone when you're dead."

"You're dead, and you still love me. I can feel that you do, Sylvanas, hold on to that love! You must hold on to it!"

Sylvanas shook her head, pulling her sword from the rotten sheath at her side. Faith noticed that it was her own spellblade, the same one she had strapped to her own waist.

"Look, baby," she said quickly. "You see? I have my blade here. Remember when you gave it to me after I got back from Vashj'ir?"

"Death surrounds you," said Sylvanas distractedly, not hearing Faith at all. "Can you not feel it? None of you are going to survive this."

"You're not even going to give yourself a chance to be happy in my time? Sylvanas, we have a chance to change the future. This future. We have a chance to be happy together."

"We can never be truly happy. You were never truly happy with me. And I was never truly happy with you. We loved each other, but it wasn't enough." Sylvanas raised her sword towards Faith, "Let me kill you quickly. If your friends come quietly, I'll end them fast too."

Faith let out a sob, "No, my love… you won't." With a flick of her wrist, she thrust her spellblade at Sylvanas, catching her right under her armor as she said a spell to enhance the blow. She cried out at the same time Sylvanas did, both of the cries sounding anguished in the barren landscape.

Sylvanas' eyes widened as she dropped the sword in her hand. Her knees collapsed under her, and Faith caught her, giving another cry. "Faith…"

"Oh, my Sylvanas… my love…" Sinking to her knees, she gathered Sylvanas against her, "I'm so sorry, baby," she sobbed.

Sylvanas was staring at her, "You… you r-really believe in this…"

"I believe in a f-future for you and me. I have to, S-Sylvanas. Even if I have to kill your future self…" She gave a wail, beginning to cry in earnest, her tears falling on to Sylvanas' cheeks. "I love you so much…"

Sylvanas' body convulsed, "L-love you… I-I'm proud of…"

Faith saw it happen, the moment the life animating Sylvanas' body left her. Clutching her fallen lover to her chest, she screamed. Behind her, Sylvanas' undead fell to the ground, lifeless. Atalo, who had been very close to being killed, breathed a momentary sigh of relief until he realized what Faith had done. Rotvine was staring at her back, the expression on his face unreadable.

"Ah, Faith," said Atalo quietly, going to her.

"I killed her…" she wept. "Titans forgive me… I killed her!"

"Faith, that wasn't your Sylvanas," Rotvine told her urgently. "Your Sylvanas, your queen, your lover, she's back in Undercity, Faith, she's alive."

Faith just continued to cry. Atalo put a hand on her back and she tensed, ready to fight if anybody took her away from Sylvanas' body.

"Come on, sweetheart. We should hold a ritual for her. Do you want to bury her?"

Sylvanas was dead, right there in front of her. Part of her knew perfectly well that she wasn't holding  _her_  Sylvanas, but she couldn't breathe. Her heart broke a hundred times as she looked down at the love of her life, the one person she had lived for… dead by her hand. Even if it was another Sylvanas, it didn't matter.

Gently, Atalo pulled her away from Sylvanas as Rotvine used magic to dig a grave for her. Nobody would come by to look at this site, but it was something she deserved.

"I'm sorry…" whispered Faith over and over again. "I'm sorry…"

"Shh, it's okay, Faith. As soon as we're done here, we'll go back to Undercity so that you can see her, okay?"

Faith didn't answer, merely watching as Haldren and Daegon used magic to lower Sylvanas' body into the ground. When they began to cover it up, Faith's sobs began anew. Atalo nearly had to carry her out of the dragonshrine when everything was over, for she could barely stand on her own.

"It'll be all righ', lassie," said Haldren quietly. He put both his hands over hers, and a warm glow appeared there, infusing her with Light. "Yeh're here ter give her a chance to have a better life with yeh."

"But what if we c-can't?" hiccupped Faith.

"You will," said Rotvine. "Haldren's right. It's what we're here for, to give people a chance to be safe and happy. Come on, honey, pull yourself together."

"Hey, look," said Xara. "Here are the others."

They turned towards where Xara was pointing, and saw Chromie leading her group towards them. Some of them were bloodied, but all of them were alive.

"What happened?" cried Chromie, immediately going towards Faith.

"Sylvanas was one of Murozond's lieutenants," said Daegon grimly. "Faith here killed her."

"You killed  _Sylvanas_?" asked the dragon, her eyes wide. "You?"

Faith said nothing, pressing her lips together as tears streamed down her face.

"Thank you, Faith," said Chromie after a while. "That must have taken real courage, for you to slay the one you love for the good of Azeroth." She took Faith's hands in her, "I'm sorry you had to do that. Sylvanas will understand why you did it."

"Understand…" she didn't think Sylvanas would understand something like that. How could she? "I killed her. Sylvanas wants to avoid death in every possible w-way… and I killed her."

Atalo hugged her tightly, "But now you'll have a chance to go back to her and talk to her about it so that the same thing doesn't happen. If you die in the future, you'll be able to prepare her for it so that she doesn't turn into… that."

"You heard her," said Xara. "She told you she loved you, and that she was proud of you. That's goes to show you that even in this reality, she loved you deeply."

"Who did yeh guys fight anyway?" Daegon asked one of the warriors who had been in Chromie's group.

"Baine Bloodhoof. I can't say it was pleasant, having to kill him. But he wasn't anything like what I know him to be in our own time. This Baine was… malicious."

"Baine Bloodhoof doesn't have a malicious bone in his body," said Atalo. "I wonder what would make him change so drastically."

"I think that losing the entire planet would make anybody go crazy," said Xara. "Can you walk, Major?"

Faith nodded, sincerely doubting her abilities to do this, but trying anyway. She stumbled a few times, and Atalo put an arm around her to steady her, "Easy, my daughter. Let me help you."

"I can do it on my own," she whispered.

"I know you can. But let me help you anyway, while we find the others."

As it turned out, the others found them. All of them were shaken by what they had seen. The group that had gone to the Emerald Dragonshrine had fought Tyrande, and one of the druids hadn't survived the encounter. As for the group that had faced Jaina, only two of its members returned.

"This isn't good," said Faith. "We need to be at our full strength to fight Murozond."

" _You're_  not at your full strength," said Chromie.

"I'm all right. I fought the Scourge and the Burning Legion after Sylvanas was killed and raised as a banshee. I can help with this, trust me." She took a deep breath, still feeling broken inside, but somewhat better after her long cry, despite the arriving migraine.

"Then let's go. The Bronze Dragonshrine isn't that far away, and we'll find Infinites on the road."

Murozond must have known what they had all done, because when they all turned in the direction of the dragonshrine, things came their way. Minor wyrms and drakes unlike anything they had ever seen before, both beautiful and horrendous to look at. They had black scales veined with white and blue, as though lightning had infused their bodies.

Under any other circumstances, Faith would have found them amazing. But, still fueled by grief and thoughts of revenge for those who had turned Sylvanas into what she had become in this time, she found only anger within her.

She began to strike the members of the infinite flight one by one, using every spell at her disposal. Frost, fire, and arcane, it didn't matter as long as her spells hit their intended targets. They fell quickly, allowing them to move towards the Bronze Dragonshrine.

Faith had only flown over this shrine once, atop Krasus, who had been showing her around the Dragonblight. She remembered how proud he had been as he'd told her the details of each of the shrines, and specifying that the one dedicated to the bronze drakes swirled with the Sands of Time.

It looked different now, although the Sands of Time were visibly still swirling there. And hovering at one end of the shrine, impossibly huge, was Murozond, the twisted remnant of the Time Lord. Also in the shrine with him were people in dark robes, members of the Twilight's Hammer, and more dragonkin belonging to the Infinite Dragonflight.

All in all, there were probably one hundred creatures in front of them, apart from Murozond.

"Sixteen of us against all of that," said Chromie quietly. "They've seen us!"

"Then we'll have to wing it," said Faith, already beginning to cast her spells as people charged at her. "Disable their spellcasters fast!"

Rotvine muttered something, and the spellcaster closest to them turned into a fluffy white sheep. Next to him, Atalo put another one of them to sleep. It helped, but it wasn't enough.

"Do you guys remember what we did at the Frozen Throne?"

"You mean the triple spell?" asked Rotvine.

Faith nodded, and together, they muttered their incantation. It had been quite a while since they had cast such a spell, and it wasn't as effective as it could have been. Still, it cut down six attackers at once, freezing some while incinerating the others.

A long fight began. They held defensive positions while Murozond's little army converged on them. Atalo and Daegon made sure to keep a constant rain of fire around them so that they wouldn't be surprised, and more than one dragonkin fell prey to it, burning alive where they stood.

But they couldn't go on forever, and Faith knew it. With only twenty attackers down, they were still hopelessly outnumbered, and they would tire soon if they kept it up.

"Split the earth beneath their feet, Atalo," hissed Faith. "Do it now!"

With a bellow coming from his very core, Atalo brought down his hoof. The sand opened beneath several cultists' feet, swallowing them almost entirely. They screamed, suffocating as mounds of the fluid earth closed in around them.

At the same time, Faith raised her arms to the sky and chanted, bringing down bolts of arcane energy from the heavens. Three of the bolts struck their enemies dead.

"Not bad," chuckled Murozond, his voice sounding eerily like the one Nozdormu currently had. "You young ones certainly know what you're doing. And I'm sure that you're very capable of decimating my forces here." He landed, making the ground tremble. "Let me save you the trouble."

Opening his mouth, Murozond belched out a jet of bronze fire that engulfed most of his human followers, killing them on the spot.

"That was a mistake, Murozond," snarled Faith. She cast three spells in quick succession, Rotvine and the other mages imitating her perfectly. Dragonkin exploded into flames, scorching the sand black.

"But you're forgetting that I can turn back time. I can turn it back so that all my forces are reanimated, without you being able to do anything about it." He pointed to something that had previously been hidden by the swirling sands: an hourglass.

"Not while I'm here!" cried Chromie. "You will  _not_  activate the Hourglass of Time to save yourself!"

She ran forward, and before them, transformed into a magnificent bronze drake.

Murozond began to chuckle, "And you think that you're the one who's going to stop me, little one? You may all have killed my lieutenants, but you cannot kill me."

" _Focus everything you have on Murozond!_ " cried Faith, casting a frost spell that rooted the other dragonkin to the ground. " _Now_!"

It was easier said than done. Chromie used her own magic to slow down Murozond as much as possible, but he was much more powerful than she was.

Spells began to rain down on Murozond, who avoided many of them simply by flapping his wings and deviating them. But a few of them hit. Atalo managed to catch the tip of his wing with a burst of lava. And both Rotvine and Faith managed to hit his snout with well-placed arcane incantations. Faith kept moving closer and closer while Chromie countered his time spells.

"Faith!" screamed Atalo as she drew her blade and swung. Murozond raised his leg and tried to squash her, which he easily would have done had she not rolled away. Blood flew as her blade slashed at his skin, and she immediately cried out a spell, which she aimed at the wound. He began to bleed copiously from the area and briefly stumbled before taking flight again.

Murozond gave a cry of rage, and Faith felt something happening. Time went still for a second, before moving forward again at an alarming speed, then back again. She kept her eye on Murozond's wound to gage what was happening, and suddenly, she saw it widen. She cast another spell as quick as she could, a fire one this time, which caught the exact area.

Time began to move very slowly. Everyone in the Bronze Dragonshrine, including Murozond, was very disoriented by the feeling, and soon, things began moving normally again.

Chromie collapsed next to the hourglass, breathing heavily, spent by the efforts it had taken to keep the former Aspect of Time from resetting time to his advantage. Faith saw her, but had no time to do anything about it as Murozond began to advance on her, mouth open, either to eat her or incinerate her.

Rotvine appeared next to her with Atalo, and together, the three of them cast different spells. Black fire, lava, and a bolt of arcane energy hit the dragon's open maw. Judging by his reaction, whatever Murozond felt must have been painful. He screamed loudly enough to make everyone's ears ring, beginning to bat at his mouth with his front paws.

" _Now_!" cried Chromie.

Faith didn't exactly know what happened. Murozond thrashed around, and one of his wings caught her, sending her flying to the other side of the shrine. She hit her head and her vision went black as she lost consciousness.

Dreams surrounded her. She saw a living Sylvanas side-by-side with her undead counterpart, both of them telling her that they loved her, then looking at each other and smiling. She saw her real family, along with Krasus, who thanked her for getting Alexstrasza back on her feet.

"Tell her I love her," he said.

Faith opened her eyes. Everything was blurry at first, as the ache in her head was so intense that it made it difficult for her to focus on anything.

"Anar'alah Belore…" she whispered. "What happened?"

Atalo bent over her, relief evident on his face, "Thank the Earth Mother you're all right," he said, running a hand over her forehead. She felt warmth where he touched her as a healing spell gently washed over her. The pain in her head dissipated.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Murozond is dead."

"What? Dead? How?" She sat up slowly and looked around, seeing his huge corpse smoldering on the sand. "You did it!"

"Atalo did," said Rotvine. "It was an amazing spell. He first encased him in rock, and then turned the whole thing to lava. I don't think even Murozond expected it."

"And to think I didn't want you to come, Father," said Faith, giving him a long hug. "How's Chromie?"

"I'm right here," said a friendly voice. "And I'm fine, thank you for asking!"

"Have the portals closed?"

She nodded, "Most of them, yes. But we'll still be able to get home, don't you worry. As a matter of fact, we should go now. I don't know how long this particular timeway will remain open now that Murozond is gone."

Faith tried getting to her feet, but immediately got dizzy.

"Whoa, take it easy, my child," said Atalo, putting his arms around her and picking her up. "Let your old father carry you for once."

"I can walk," she protested.

"But not in a straight line, I think."

Resting her head on his shoulder, she let him carry her through the desolate world until they reached the portal that brought them back to the Caverns of Time, where members of the Bronze Dragonflight were waiting for them.

One of them, a large male named Tick, greeted them as soon as they stepped into the caverns again.

"How did it go?" he asked.

"Better than expected," said Rotvine. "We only lost four of our members, and we managed to do what Nozdormu wanted us to do."

"We still lost four members," whispered Faith. "And I guess I found something out about myself."

"What's that?" asked Tick.

"That I would kill Sylvanas if I had absolutely no other choice…"

Rotvine looked at her, "I don't think so. You knew that you weren't really killing her."

"Did I? I'm not fully sure about that. You didn't feel what I felt when my dagger went through her body."

"That's true," he said gently. "I felt my own emotions. And I heard you screaming for her. It's not something I'm going to forget in a hurry."

Faith closed her eyes, "I know you care about her too."

"Maybe not quite in the same way you do," he amended.

"How am I supposed to tell her that I killed her future self?"

"You don't absolutely have to tell her, you know."

Faith snorted. Right. Sylvanas would take one look at her and immediately know that something was wrong…

Since she was still feeling a little weak, she let Rotvine and the other mages take care of the portal to Dalaran.

"I have to say, I'm glad that's over," said Xara. "Seeing a glimpse of that kind of future really isn't something that I wanted to do."

Faith shrugged, "At least we know that there's something we can do to avoid it. Besides, there are hundreds of possible futures for us. It all depends on the choices we make every day."

"That's very true," added Chromie. "I mean, there was a future where we failed this particular mission and actually allowed Murozond to go through the portal with his generals."

"Oh, I don't want to think about that." Xara shuddered as she stepped through the portal and into Dalaran, "It's bad enough that we didn't all survive."

"Well, look, we made it, and everything's going to be okay. All we need to do now is stop the Twilight's Hammer and Deathwing."

"Oh, is that all we need ter do?" asked Haldren. "Where do I sign up fer that?"

Faith started to laugh "Come on, we'd better talk to the Council and figure out what happened."

People in Dalaran were gracious as always, telling them that Rhonin was currently in the Violet Hold with most of the other members of the Council. They also told them what day it was.

"Four weeks?" exclaimed Faith. "We've been gone for  _four weeks_?"

"We knew time would move differently while we were in the future world," said Chromie calmly.

"Differently, yes, but four weeks… Sylvanas will be frantic."

"I've never seen her frantic," said Rotvine. "It would be interesting."

"Oh, be quiet, you know what I mean. I missed her birthday…"

"Sylvanas still celebrates her birthday?" wondered Chromie, surprised.

"She doesn't, but I do. I bake a cake with a candle and I get her clothes that she doesn't usually wear unless I really beg her to."

"What kind of clothes?"

"Reinforced ones that won't rot on her body," said Rotvine. "Sylvanas always says that it's a waste. We're dead, we don't need to look good."

Faith glared at him, "And I'm of the opinion that just because you're Forsaken doesn't mean you have to look like the mindless zombies that made up a large part of the Scourge."

"Well, we'll agree to disagree on that one." Rotvine squeezed her shoulder gently, and they entered the Violet Hold. Rhonin, who had apparently gotten word that they were coming, met them in the main chamber.

"You need to go to the clinics again," he told Faith immediately, hugging her.

"No, what I need to do is get home. Sylvanas is probably –."

"Right here."


	29. Chapter 29

Faith turned around. She was there. Her Sylvanas. Her love. Bursting into unexpected tears, she ran to her, collapsing in her arms. "Oh, Sylvanas… Sylvanas…"

Alarmed, Sylvanas looked down at her before holding her, "What's wrong?"

But Faith couldn't speak. She tried, but all that came out were more sobs.

"Come on, Faith, I thought you were done crying all over the place. Pull yourself together."

Faith shook her head, and Sylvanas gently pushed her away so that she could look at her.

"Pull yourself together. That's an order."

"I killed you…"

"Oh, not this again. How many times do we have to go through –."

"No…" Faith swallowed and looked up at her, "When we went to the future… I had to kill you."

A blink. "Oh. Well, all right then."

"I didn't… I… you weren't yourself. It was as though you'd reverted back to what you were when you were with the Scourge. You wanted me dead."

" _I_  wanted you dead?"

Faith nodded, wiping the tears from her face. "You know I would never hurt you, right? Not… I wouldn't."

"Of course I know." She placed a kiss on her forehead, "We can talk about that later. In the meantime, we have things to tell you."

"Did you kill Murozond?" asked Rhonin, briefly glancing at Faith and Sylvanas.

"We did," replied Chromie. "But I daresay that Nozdormu told you about that the moment it happened."

"He's actually been pretty busy, so we didn't get a chance to talk to him. The Aspects have taken back Wyrmrest Temple. It turns out that the Twilight Prophet was Archbishop Benedictus."

"Archbishop… but isn't he the leader of the Church of Light?" asked Faith.

Sylvanas pushed a lock of hair away from Faith's forehead, "How do you know that?"

"I make it my business to know the leaders in Azeroth."

Rhonin gave a nod, "He was, yes, which is why we never saw it coming." Leading them to a room off the main chamber, he brought refreshments to them as he explained what had happened during the four weeks they had been absent. "The druids of the Cenarion Circle report that they were victorious in the Firelands. The elemental lord Ragnaros has been destroyed. So was the lord of air, Al'akir."

"Both good news," said Daegon, accepting a mug of ale.

"Yes. Now the only thing we need to do is kill Deathwing."

Kill Deathwing. That was easier said than done. He had destroyed more of Azeroth in a single day than the Scourge had done in ten years. As Faith went back to Undercity with Sylvanas, she wondered whether they would actually manage to kill him.

"Killing Arthas was one thing," she said, changing out of her clothes. "But this… Deathwing is an Aspect."

"You killed Nozdormu's future self, didn't you?"

"That was different, and I didn't have much to do with it. I was knocked out for most of the fight, remember?"

"So, what, you don't want to go?"

"They don't need me for this, and frankly, I've had enough of war to last me a lifetime."

"You're really not going to go. Deathwing is summoning the Old Gods all over Dragonblight, and you don't want to fight him?"

"Do  _you_  want me to fight him? I would have thought that you wouldn't want me anywhere near this."

"I don't, but the principle remains the same." Sylvanas sat on the bed and pulled Faith to her, "Look, if you don't want to go, I can keep you home. But I want you to really think about it."

"Sylvanas. It's not that fighting Deathwing scares me. At least, with him, I know that if I die, I'll remain dead. I didn't know that when I was fighting Arthas. It's just that I realized that I don't need to be everywhere here. You did fine in Gilneas without me, they did great in the Firelands without my help, and they managed to help Neptulon in Vashj'ir, again without me."

"So, what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that I want to hang up my spellblade. I don't want to fight anymore, Sylvanas. I'm too tired."

"You can't just retire because you think that nobody needs you. Are you kidding? Undercity needs you.  _I_  need you."

"For what? You don't need me to battle the Scourge anymore."

Sylvanas stared at her, "You do realize that we had this same discussion when I jumped off Icecrown."

"That's not the same. You're the queen of the Forsaken, Sylvanas. You've made the Forsaken what they are today."

"Yes. And you make  _me_  a better person every day. Look at me." She waited until Faith raised her eyes to hers, "I still need you. You've done so many things for me, for all of us. I don't mean just for Undercity, but for Azeroth in general. You killed my future self because I was a major threat to everything."

"I didn't want to kill you…"

"Well, of course you didn't want to kill me. But it was something you needed to do, and you did it to keep all of us safe. I'm not saying that you have to join the task force against Deathwing. I just want you to really think about your decision. Talk to Thrall."

"Talk to… I can't talk to Thrall, I've never been able to refuse him anything."

"And why is it that you refuse me every other day?"

Faith shrugged, "I dunno. He's just got a way about him that makes it hard to say no. You've got a completely different approach to things, one where if someone says no, you rain down fire and brimstone on them."

"Fire and brimstone. Honestly, you make me sound like some kind of demon."

Faith rested her arms against Sylvanas' shoulders, "But a very, very pretty demon." She kissed her, "What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to do what you feel is right. You've helped the Aspects get one step closer to the Dragon Soul, and you helped Alexstrasza out of her grief-induced catatonia. Don't you want to help finish everything? The Aspects may have gotten Wyrmrest Temple back, and it might have been temporarily rebuilt by magic, but the forces there are under attack. Deathwing could easily kill them off one by one, and then we'll find ourselves with nothing to hold on to."

"I can't believe you're telling me to go fight after I let you know that I'd like to give everything up."

Sylvanas smiled, "You're too good to quit. And you'd be bored to tears in Undercity with me. What would you do all day?"

"Oh, I can think of a lot of activities I could do with you all day, Sylvanas."

This time, Sylvanas laughed, "Fiend. And who would run Undercity while we're in bed, pray tell?"

"Nathanos could run the city. He dotes on you."

"Over my dead body."

"Sylvanas, baby… you're already dead."

"Not dead enough to let Nathanos run this city, I promise you that."

Faith rested her forehead against Sylvanas', closing her eyes. "Sylvanas, I don't want to fight Deathwing. I don't want to leave you again. Every time I do, I almost die, or you actually die, or I end up killing a part of you."

"That's because you get yourself stuck in impossible situations."

" _Me_? I do no such thing."

Sylvanas snaked a hand over Faith's inner thigh, "Is that so? How many times have you needed to be rescued over the past couple of years?"

"My ship sank and I was kidnapped, that's not my fault!" She looked down at Sylvanas' hand with interest as it pulled up her robe until her thigh was exposed.

"Mmm. Maybe it wasn't your fault, but you still got yourself in that situation. And in Naxxramas." She moved her hand higher.

Faith shivered, "Also n-not my fault. Sylvanas."

Sylvanas ignored her, focused on what she was doing. "I've had to rescue you more times than I care to count. And I've just realized that I never asked you for anything in return."

"Except for un-unwavering loyalty… Sylvanas, if you keep this up…"

"What? What will you do?"

Faith arched her back as Sylvanas' index finger penetrated her slowly, rubbing her once, twice.  "For one th-thing… I'll climax all over you."

"I will only let you do that if you agree to talk to Thrall."

"You were always a good negotiator," hissed Faith, kissing Sylvanas fully and wrapping her legs around her waist.

Their lovemaking was intense.  Sylvanas didn't stop until Faith was completely sated beneath her, quickly drifting towards sleep.

"You've become a lightweight, my darling," said Sylvanas quietly.

"I told you that I'm tired. It's a general feeling I have."

Sylvanas chuckled, "Rest up. You can go talk to Thrall in the morning."

"Fine. I'll go talk to Thrall. But if he ropes me into going to war and I get killed, you'll have nobody but yourself to blame."

The former warchief of the Horde now lived on a windswept rock close to the Maelstrom. It was a terrifying place, in Faith's eyes, where one could constantly be tossed into the churning waters below. She had no idea how he could live in such a place. Then again, she supposed that if she were as in tune with the elements as Thrall was, she wouldn't find it so bothersome.

He had built a comfortable hut on the rock, one big enough to accommodate him and Aggra, his life mate, a female orc he had met on his journeys in Nagrand. The two of them welcomed her warmly, inviting her inside and shutting the flap to the hut tightly so that the wind wouldn't bother them.

"Hi, Faith," said Thrall quietly, giving her a hug. "I hear that you did a good job when you went through the timeways in the Caverns."

Faith smiled a little, "I didn't do much, to be honest. I'm happy that the others did all right without me." She turned towards Aggra, introducing herself. The brown-skinned orc nodded at her, smiling at her.

"I have heard much about you, Faith Everstone," she said. "You're quite a warrior."

"See, that's what I've come to talk to you guys about. Sylvanas said you wanted to see me about Deathwing, but…"

"You don't want to fight anymore."

Faith shook her head, saying nothing. She knew that for orcs, not wanting to fight was a mark of great dishonor.

"This happens in the life of every warrior," said Aggra, taking her arm and leading her to a low wooden chair. "Sometimes, one questions everything one has done. But the journey isn't over yet for you. Surely you must know that."

"Is there anything wrong with my wanting to live a quiet life with the woman I love?" Faith sighed, "Sylvanas and I never got a chance to live quietly. She became general before I was born, and after that, we never had much of a chance to be together. By the time we did, it was too late to live quietly."

"You were a champion against the Scourge," said Thrall. "People looked up to you, and they do that still. Just having you there in the fight against Deathwing would greatly enhance their courage in battle. You must trust me on this."

What could Faith say? That she didn't want to leave Sylvanas again? The thought of it was painful, but she knew she couldn't refuse Thrall. "I told Sylvanas this would happen."

"What?"

"That you would talk me into fighting Deathwing with you, even though I really don't want to. It's not that I'm afraid, although, yes, in a way I am afraid, like everyone else. I just, I don't want to be away from her anymore."

Thrall smiled, looking at Aggra with a kind eye, "I wouldn't have known what you meant before I met Aggra," he said gently. "I understand how difficult it is for you to be away from Sylvanas. You love her so much that the thought of being away from her is physically painful for you. But you've done it before."

"I know I've done it before, and I know how selfish I sound right now. But damn it, Thrall, don't I have the right to be a little selfish after everything that's happened?"

"Of course you do. It's a normal feeling to have. But Sylvanas still needs to run Undercity, and isn't it better for the two of you when you reunite after some time apart?" His eyes glinted mischievously.

Faith blushed, "Thrall!"

"So, will you come?"

She ran a hand over her eyes, "Fine. I'll be there."

"Thank you, Faith. We'll meet at Wyrmrest Temple tomorrow."

So soon. Faith nodded and made her way back to Undercity, bypassing the Throne Room altogether and going to her chambers to get ready. She didn't take much, only a cross-shoulder bag, her staff, and her spellblade.

_One last battle,_  she told herself as she snuck away from the city, not wanting to see anybody.  _Just one more and you'll be home._

"You know, you really need to stop leaving without saying goodbye to me."

Faith jumped out of her skin as Sylvanas jumped down from one of the ruined walls in the Ruins of Lordaeron.

"By the Sunwell, Sylvanas, are you trying to scare me to death?"

"Why are you sneaking away?"

"Because I don't want to go, and saying goodbye to everyone will just make this harder for me to leave."

"You'll come back soon. If everything goes well, and I think it will, you'll be home tomorrow."

"Unless Deathwing kills me, in which case I won't be home at all."

"Stop dramatizing."

"Sylvanas, I'm going off to face the biggest threat Azeroth has seen since the Burning Legion last invaded us. I don't think things can be more dramatic than that."

"We both know that they can be." Sylvanas took her hand, "I'll see you soon, all right? Don't be scared."

Faith nodded, "Yeah, all right."

"I love you."

Faith looked at her, "You've never told me that first…"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that whenever you tell me you love me, it's usually in response to my telling you that I love you."

"Is it? Well, I love you. There, I said it again." She kissed her tenderly, "And I will see you soon."

"Maybe."

"I will." Stealing another kiss, she watched as Faith created a portal to Dalaran and stepped through it, forcing herself to stay where she was and not follow her.

It was never easy to know that her lover was away from her. She would get news, of course, she always did, but it wasn't enough.

"Why did I force her to go, Carrick?" she asked Rotvine when she was back in the throne room. "She wanted to stay home, so why didn't I just let her do that?"

"Because it's not in her nature. She might enjoy being home for a few days without doing anything, but Faith isn't the kind of person to just sit idly by while everyone else goes off to protect the world. She wanted to be a ranger, didn't she?"

"No, that was only because of me, not because she had any sense of adventure. But I know what you mean. She wouldn't like just sitting here running a city. It's not her thing."

"But being with you is. I understand what she means when she says she wants a quiet life with you."

"She's been thinking about that ever since I mentioned the future I'd envisioned for us."

"You can't blame her, after almost twelve years of war."

Sylvanas said nothing more, settling down to wait for Faith to return.

She got some news throughout the day, hearing that Faith had safely arrived at Wyrmrest Temple, which had been under siege. She and a group of fighters had stayed there with Alexstrasza's forces to fight off the Twilight's Hammer and the minions of the Old Gods, while another group went to fight Deathwing directly, led by Thrall.

She could almost see it happening. Faith giving out orders efficiently and getting people where they needed to be, while magic swirled about her. A force to be reckoned with, she was sure of it.

Night had fallen by the time Sylvanas got more substantial news about the fight. Faith was alive. She was fine. She and her group had fully retaken Wyrmrest Temple and stopped the siege. She'd suffered yet another injury, but it wasn't life-threatening and she hadn't lost a limb, so she was going to be okay.

And Deathwing was dead. From what she heard, it had been a little anticlimactic, considering everything he had done. Thrall had devised a plan to remove the armor from Deathwing's back in order to use the Dragon Soul on him, after which his group and the Aspects had been able to kill him. It had been a long battle, and three dozen people had lost their lives during the fight, but it was over.

Faith returned home, as Sylvanas had predicted, the following day. Her robes were torn again and she had half a dozen new cuts on her face that were still bleeding because the shaman hadn't had the time to heal more than the main injury on her abdomen.

"Can I stop fighting now?" she asked Sylvanas, sitting at her feet and leaning against her throne. "Please?"

"You've definitely earned your vacation, my darling," Sylvanas told her. "After you get healed up."

"I don't need to be healed."

Sylvanas pressed her fingers against one of Faith's cuts. "What's this, then?" she asked softly, showing her the blood.

"It'll heal on its own."

"Nonsense. I don't want you to scar."

"Oh, you wanna see a scar? Come here." She stood up and led Sylvanas to their chambers before she stripped the robes from her body, tossing them aside. On her abdomen was a new scar, about four inches long, that was still an angry-looking red. "Courtesy of a black drake who tried to wear my guts as suspenders."

Sylvanas knelt and gently licked at the scar. Faith made an incredible sound in the back of her throat, causing Sylvanas to do it again. "Oh, I'm going to have fun playing with this if it's going to remain that sensitive."

Faith backed away from her to preserve her sense of sanity, "Maybe when we're on holiday together. I'll let you do whatever you want to me then."

"When you put it like that… we'll leave immediately. Where do you want to go?"

"I don't know. Somewhere remote."

"There are no shortages of remote areas on Azeroth, my love."

"What about Grizzly Hills? The Scourge is gone, so we should have a good time there. Plus, it's a forest, and I know how much you love that."

Sylvanas thought for a minute before she nodded, "All right. We'll go to Grizzly Hills. Just give me a bit to settle things here and figure out who I'm going to leave in charge here, and we'll go. And no, I won't leave Nathanos in charge."

Faith giggled and cleaned herself up while Sylvanas was gone. By the time she'd returned, she'd already packed the two of them a couple of bags.

"You're not wearing robes," said Sylvanas to her. "Wait, are those my old leggings?"

Faith looked down at the black suede leggings she was wearing, "Yes."

"Where did you get these?"

"From your room in Silvermoon. I got the whole outfit."

Sylvanas stared at her for a while. Seeing Faith wearing her old clothes was amazing. It made her feel like they were… real. A real domestic couple.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Faith asked her.

"Because I'm trying not to get emotional."

Faith put a hand on her face, kissing her cheek, "Do you want me to take this off?"

"Yes I do, but not here. Once we get there. You have no idea the things I'm going to do to you."

"Hey, I owe you some as well."

"You usually give as good as you get. So long as you have the stamina for it."

"What makes you think I don't have the stamina for it?"

"You've just been through a battle. And if we're going to Grizzly Hills to have what I think will be a lot of sex, you're not really going to rest."

"Of course I'll rest."

Sylvanas chuckled, "We'll see." Picking up their bags, she took Faith's hand and, together, they went to the portal room, where Rotvine had already conjured a swirling vortex leading to the Grizzly Hills for them.

"Have a good holiday, you two. See you in a week."

"Maybe," Faith told him, grinning. "I may not give her back to you now that I have her all to myself."

"And here I thought I wasn't a prize to be shared between people," said Sylvanas absently.

Rotvine shook his head, "Whatever antics you two are going to get up to, have fun, and make sure to keep the details of this trip to yourselves. I don't want to be scarred for the rest of my undeath."

* * *

**Author's Note**  – This brings us to the end of the Cataclysm expansion! I didn't think I was going to manage that before Legion came, but I've had a really quiet August, which allowed me to write a lot more than anticipated! I can't be sure that I'll be able to post anything else over the next couple of weeks, as I'm going to be rather busy with World of Warcraft: Legion. But I'll definitely try! Thank you so much for reading until this chapter! I really appreciate it!

Love,

Lunarelle


	30. Chapter 30

It was a bustle of activity. Poison merchants were calling out prices for their various reagents as people passed by, looking at what was for sale. Daggers, venoms, potions, mushrooms that were best consumed lightly, herbs and spices, or, further away, bags, clothes, and shoes. It was a typical day at the Undercity Market, and Faith had never seen it as busy as the day she and Sylvanas returned from their holiday.

"What's going on here?" she asked Sylvanas as they walked around hand-in-hand, not quite ready for their week to end.

"I have absolutely no idea. But we can ask Carrick."

They found him in the throne room, talking to two trolls who seemed to be arguing about voodoo dolls.

"Come on, why can't you work together and split the profits?" he was asking.

"No way, mon! They were  _my_  design, and he stole them!"

Sylvanas stood there for a moment, staring at the scene. A few seconds later, she had burst into laughter, laughing so hard that dusty tears fell from her eyes and dried on her cheeks. "Wanna go back on holiday?" she asked Faith, wiping her face.

Rotvine stared at her incredulously, "Who are you, and what have you done with our Banshee Queen?"

"Your Banshee Queen is about to tell all of you to pack it in and leave her throne room. You're ruining my good mood."

Faith smiled, rubbing her back, "Down, girl," she said softly, turning to the trolls. "From what I can gather, you've both made the dolls. It doesn't matter whose design it is. Either work together to sell them, or go sell them in different areas of the city. But for the love of the Sun, stop arguing about something so trivial when we're actually at peace."

The trolls glared at her, but were wise enough not to say anything. Sylvanas' smile disappeared when she saw the looks they shot Faith, but she put a hand on her arm, whispering to her.

"They shouldn't look at you like that," she hissed.

"Okay. I know. But that's why I have you. Come on, we need to put all this stuff away."

Sylvanas followed her, her good mood gone until they reached their room and Faith turned around, kissing her deeply and making her head spin. "Whoa, hey… warn a girl when you're about to do something like that."

"But then you're expecting it and I lose the element of surprise." Faith stuck out her tongue, "But okay, I'll warn you now. I plan to kiss you like that again. And again. And again until you beg me for more."

"I already am. Get over here." Sylvanas pulled Faith to her and kissed her, beginning to undress her as she closed the door with her foot.

There was an immediate knock, "Lady Sylvanas!" called someone.

"Four hours," she muttered. "We still had four hours and we didn't take them." Pulling herself away from Faith, she wrenched the door open, "What? I've been back less than ten minutes and there's a crisis?"

The guard who had knocked at the door flinched away from her, "Well, yes… one of the two trolls is dead."

"You're kidding me, right?"

"I'm sorry, your Majesty."

"Killed over damned voodoo dolls… this is ridiculous."

Faith put a hand on her shoulder, “Welcome home, love."

Their life in Undercity began to return to normal, although neither of them were really far from the other now. If Sylvanas was in one room, one could be certain to find Faith there as well. And between the hours of eight and ten in the evening, nobody was to come near Sylvanas' chambers under pain of death, unless something was happening that required her immediate attention.

The two of them grew closer than they had ever been. One only had to look at them to see how in love they truly were. They were discreet in public, as always, but sometimes, one could catch Sylvanas bringing a sweet treat for Faith, or Faith straightening the hood of Sylvanas' cloak, always giving her a kiss if they were alone. Both of them laughed more, and some of the darkness that had been in Faith's eyes for years slowly began to lift.

The news that Ishaka was expecting a child made her downright giddy two weeks after they'd gotten home.

"I'm going to be an aunt!" she cried to Sylvanas.

Sylvanas smiled, "Being an aunt is great. You get to spoil the child without any of the responsibility."

"Since when do you spoil Giramar and Galadin?"

"I don't. But you do. And you're going to do the same thing here, I think."

"Of course I will! A baby tauren!" Faith twirled on the spot, and Sylvanas looked at her, trying to keep her composure. Her mouth twitched a little.

"I love it when you're this happy," she commented, privately thinking that she hadn't seen Faith like that since before the Scourge had touched their lives.

"I am. I'm happy." Checking to make sure nobody was around the throne room, she climbed on to Sylvanas' lap and kissed her, "Thank you."

"For what? I'm not the one about to have a baby tauren."

Faith laughed softly, "I love you."

"Oh, that." Sylvanas kissed her, "I love you too."

They would have probably stayed that way for a while had a messenger not come into the throne room. An orc of slight stature, he cleared his throat loudly, looking at the floor when he realized that Faith and Sylvanas were having a tender moment.

"I'm sorry to bother you," he said, holding up a piece of rolled-up parchment. "I have a letter here from the Warchief."

With a sigh, Faith climbed off Sylvanas' lap and pulled her hair up in a ponytail. "Bring it here," said Sylvanas to the orc.

The orc quickly gave Sylvanas the parchment and backed away, looking at her expectantly.

"You don't need to stay."

"Beg your pardon, but I do. Warchief Garrosh wants an answer right away."

Forcing herself not to roll her eyes, Sylvanas read the letter quickly before handing it to Faith, "Tell him we'll be there."

"Thank you, Queen Sylvanas," he replied. "Um… is there a way I could get a portal?"

Faith snorted, "Yes," she said. "There's a way." Handing the parchment back to Sylvanas, she led the orc to the portal chamber and created a portal for him, "Be safe. And thank you for bringing the message to us."

"You're welcome. And I really am sorry for…" he looked down again. "You know. You were busy."

"Oh, that's all right. Take care, friend."

After he had gone, she went back to the throne room, but Sylvanas was no longer alone. Rotvine was with her, discussing Garrosh's letter, a summons to go to Orgrimmar in two weeks' time. He had also told them to bring a ship, because he would be sending more orcs over, to relieve the ones currently stationed in Undercity.

"Should we bring one ship, or more than that?" Rotvine was asking Sylvanas.

"I don't know. I have no idea how many orcs he's planning on sending over here."

"Might I make a suggestion?" asked Faith.

Sylvanas turned to her, "Please."

"Well, there's this handy little spell that creates portals. Maybe you've heard of it?" Faith grew serious when she saw the look on Sylvanas' face, "If he sends over more orcs than we have room for on one ship, I could portal the rest over. It won't be a problem."

"You're not staying in Orgrimmar."

"No, I'm not saying that. But when we come back, I'll portal the orcs from Undercity to Orgrimmar, and Garrosh can send the other ones over. It'll be simple enough to accomplish. As a matter of fact, it's easier than bringing some of them by ship, considering the fact that most of them don't feel well when on the water."

"He wants a ship, I'll bring him a ship," said Sylvanas. "But it's a good idea, Faith, thank you."

"I aim to please."

They left Undercity the following week, traveling with Sylvanas’ entourage of twenty elite guards. Rotvine remained in Lordaeron to look after things with Nathanos, who wasn't happy about not coming along.

"And to think I have to waste an entire ship to go to Orgrimmar when we could have traveled there via portal," grumbled Sylvanas and she and Faith settled down in their cabin.

Faith smiled, "Don't think of it as a waste. Think of it as two days spent with your sweetheart in a cabin. Alone."

"My sweetheart?" repeated Sylvanas, her eyebrow raised. "Are we twelve?"

"Part of me is every time I look at you and remember the day I fell in love with you."

Sylvanas closed her eyes, putting a hand over her chest, "Phantom heartbeat…" she whispered. "You keep bringing it out of me."

"Phantom heartbeat?" asked Faith. "What are you talking about?"

"Just that when you say things like that, I think I can almost feel my heart beating again."

Faith looked at her for a moment before swiftly crossing the room and kissing her deeply. Taken completely by surprise, Sylvanas nearly fell over, grabbing the table for support and putting an arm around Faith, meaning to take control of the kiss. But Faith would have none of it, pushing her on the table with one hand while the other pulled down her leggings.

There was nothing Sylvanas could do but take it. She closed her eyes when Faith shoved a hand between her legs, hissing as two fingers penetrated her, quickly followed by a third. She bit down gently on Faith's lip and was rewarded with a deeper kiss.

"Oh… baby, wait… oh!" Sylvanas cried out when Faith's fingers worked magic inside her. Her muscles quivered, and Faith took full advantage of the situation, getting down on her knees and replacing her hand with her mouth, lapping the climax from her skin. That action caused Sylvanas to have a second orgasm, and she made a sound that she swore she would never make again. It was quite undignified for a queen.

Finally, Faith backed away, licking her lips, "Hello," she whispered.

Sylvanas was glad she had no need to breathe, because she was certain she wouldn't have been able to catch her breath at that moment. As it was, her head spun, and it took her a few seconds to regain her senses.

"Are you okay?" Faith asked her, sounding highly amused.

A nod, "You… I…" Sylvanas tried again, "I can't believe you made me sound like that."

"I made you scream," said Faith. She looked smug now.

Sylvanas picked up a cloth and wiped herself, not deigning to respond to that statement.

Faith was smiling, "Wait, are you embarrassed by it?"

Still no comment. But a frown appeared on her face.

"Awe, honey." Faith took her hand, "If it was good for you, that's all that matters. And if you'd rather I didn't make you sound like that, well… I don't really know how to stop that from happening."

Disengaging herself gently, Sylvanas set the cloth aside and pulled her leggings back up. She left the cabin, and Faith stared after her, feeling hurt.

A second later, Sylvanas stuck her head back in the cabin, "Hey," she said. "I love you."

"I love you too."  Faith smiled at her softly.

Sylvanas smiled back and winked before disappearing again.

Bladefist Bay came into view a couple of days later. Even out on the sea, it was punishingly hot, and Faith could already see how uncomfortable Sylvanas was. She kept herself to the shadows, and the only people actually out on the deck were the orcs who were excited to be home.

"And to think there was a time I loved the sun," muttered Sylvanas as they got ready to arrive.

"You looked so beautiful in the sun," said Faith, raising her hand and casting a spell on Sylvanas to keep her cool. "Better?"

"Much, thank you." Sylvanas glanced at her, "Are you implying that I don't look beautiful now? I think I've kept my looks, for the most part, despite the inconvenience of being dead."

"You, my love, know that I love the way you look." It had taken some getting used to, but she still thought of Sylvanas as one of the most beautiful creatures she had ever seen, even in undeath.

"You'd better. I work hard for you."

A chuckle, "I noticed that you had gotten some kind of lip gloss from Silvermoon. I have to confess that I thought I was hallucinating when I unpacked your stuff while we were in Grizzly Hills."

"We've been kissing so much that it was the only way to keep them healthy, if you'll allow me that turn of phrase."

"You think we kiss too much?" Faith asked her, her eyes wide.

"Did I say that?" She pulled Faith to her, "I love it when you kiss me."

Faith did just that, keeping it light, "I've been meaning to ask you whether you ever… taste anything when you kiss me."

"Do I ever… after eleven years, you ask me something like this?" She leaned against the table, "My taste buds are deadened. My sense of taste is very faint compared to what it used to be."

"So if I don't brush my teeth before kissing you…"

"I can still taste it, although barely. I have you to thank for that, actually. Since you preserved my body just after I died, the magic you used, combined with what I did to recover my physical form, allowed me to retain most of my senses, although I do use a potion now and again to enhance them. As far as I know, none of the other Forsaken feel the same way I do."

"What about the dark rangers?"

"They have good eyesight and hearing, but that's due to magic. Faith, I thought you knew this."

"To be fair, I didn't really think about it too much." She looked down, a little ashamed at her negligence.

Sylvanas took her hand, "You've been busy trying to find a way to bring me back to life."

She nodded, "I guess thinking about the way you actually functioned now meant accepting the fact that you truly are dead." Stepping into Sylvanas' embrace, Faith closed her eyes, "I'm sorry. I should have paid attention."

"No, my darling. It’s difficult to understand because you're not one of us." Sylvanas stroked her hair, "And I'm happy you don't understand it. I would never want you to go through undeath."

"Still. I should have asked you about this sooner."

"Why? It doesn't change anything, at least not with me. I've retained some of my sense of smell, but it's enough to allow me to function. And I think we've established on numerous occasions that I can physically feel as well as I did before."

"Magic, again?"

"No, I think that's just you." Sylvanas smiled and kissed her, "I can feel it when you touch me. I feel pain, probably a lot more than other Forsaken can. And, of course, you know I can cry."

Faith nodded. It had always fascinated her to know that Sylvanas could cry, even though her tears mostly came as dust. "How does that work, anyway?"

"My body absorbs the moisture from my surroundings. That moisture, whatever's left of it, is released when I cry. Or when I'm intimate with you."

"Mmm, intimate," said Faith. "Do you think we have time to –?"

" _No_. We're about to get to Orgrimmar."

Faith smiled, "Maybe later then," she said quietly.

They got to the port of Bladefist Bay, and disembarked to see that their arrival hadn't gone unnoticed. A delegation of orcs and tauren were waiting for them, including a large gray orc that Faith had only seen once before. The Blackrock orc known as Malkorok.

"Welcome back to Durotar," he said when Sylvanas stood before him. "I hope your journey was good."

It was obvious that he was forcing himself to be polite and that he had no desire to spend more time with the Forsaken than he had to. Quickly, he began to lead them towards the city.

Since Sylvanas had brought Venom along, she hoisted Faith on to the saddle so that they could ride together.

"I don't like being here," said Faith. "I wonder what this meeting's about."

"We all do," Sylvanas told her quietly. "But we're about to find out."

Orgrimmar had changed again, its fortifications having grown stronger. It looked like a city ready for war, which made Faith frown.

"Are you scared?" wondered Sylvanas. "You're tense."

"No… I'm just… you know how I was sick just hours before the Scourge invaded Quel'Thalas?"

Sylvanas nodded.

"I kind of feel like that. Like something horrible is going to happen."

"Nothing's going to happen to you, my darling. Not while I'm around." Sylvanas squeezed her a little tighter.

"Nothing was supposed to happen last time either."

"Things are different now. The Scourge is gone."

Faith rested her head briefly against Sylvanas' shoulder, "I'll just be happy when we're home again."

Sylvanas kissed Faith's ear gently, "Soon."

"You can camp just outside the gates," said Malkorok as they were about to go into the city.

"Camp? You're not even going to let us into the city?" asked one of the Forsaken guards.

"It's all right, Elias," said Faith to him. "I prepared myself for this." She climbed down from Venom and grabbed the saddle bag she had fastened on him.

Walking a short distance away, she pulled a bundle from the bag and said a few words in ancient Thalassian. Before everyone's eyes, a series of tents, made of gilded violet cloth, seemed to sprout out of thin air. There were ten of them in total, nine small ones, and a larger one meant for Sylvanas.

Sylvanas stared, "Where in the world did you learn how to do that?"

"I learned the spell before we went on holiday, thinking it would be useful," replied Faith, securing the final tent with a wave of her hand.

"Did you bring furniture for them?"

Faith merely looked back towards the bay with a smile. A skeletal horse was pulling a small cart loaded with various things, including tables, chairs, and cushions. "What do you think?" she asked Sylvanas.

"I think my lover's a genius," replied the queen. "You brought stuff for yourself, right?"

Faith gave a nod, "There's an inflatable bed in there, thanks to the goblins. I tested it, it's comfortable enough."

"Oh, she can stay in the city," said Malkorok, glancing at them.

"No she can't," said Faith shortly. "Thank you for the offer, but I'll stay with my people."

The gray orc shrugged, "Whatever you want to do. Look, the warchief doesn't like to be kept waiting."

"Well, then, we really shouldn't linger," said Sylvanas. She nodded to the Forsaken, who saluted her and began working on the camp, promising that they'd have everything ready for them when they returned.

The two of them walked behind Malkorok as he led them inside Orgrimmar and into Grommash Hold, where Garrosh was waiting with the other leaders of the Horde.

"Ah, there they are. What took you so long?"

Sylvanas didn't answer his statement, merely greeting everyone. Faith went immediately to Baine and bowed to him, doing the same with Vol'jin, and hugging Lor'themar.

"Hi Faith," he said. "You look well."

She smiled, "I guess I needed a holiday."

"It did you a world of good, I think. Sylvanas too."

Sylvanas raised an eyebrow, "Thanks." She glanced at Garrosh, "So, what was so important we had to come here?"

Garrosh took a seat at the head of a long table covered in deerskin, "Simple. I want to control all of Kalimdor. I'm sick of the night elves taking the forests away from us." He looked at them all in turn, "We're going to attack Theramore."


	31. Chapter 31

Attack Theramore.

Attack Theramore?!

Stunned silence greeted Garrosh's words, doubtlessly the way he had planned it.

"You want to attack Theramore," repeated Faith when it was obvious that everyone was too afraid to speak. In order to gain a better foothold in Kalimdor?"

"Do you have a problem with that, mage?"

Dozens of problems. Hundreds. But none that she could voice in front of everyone. She held up a hand, "How do you plan to go through with something like this? Do you want to kill Jaina or –."

"I want Theramore wiped off the map!" he growled.

Several people looked at each other. Finally Trade Prince Gallywix, the leader of the goblin faction that had joined the Horde after the Cataclysm, spoke up. "Sounds profitable, I say."

Faith's leg twitched nervously beneath the table. Gently, Sylvanas placed a hand on her knee to calm her down, the way she would have a nervous beast.

"It seems like a large operation," said Baine after a few moments had passed. "We can't just attack Theramore out of the blue. We'll never reach them."

"There are military targets we can destroy instead of attacking Theramore," said Faith.

"Theramore has a fleet," Malkorok told her. "But you still have a soft spot for the Alliance. I heard about the way you helped them in Northrend."

Garrosh chuckled, "Do you think me a fool? I plan to purge Kalimdor of the Alliance altogether."

" _All_  of Kalimdor? You will never manage to take Teldrassil, especially now that it has been blessed again."

"You doubt your warchief?" he snarled at her.

"Of course not –."

"Shut up, Faith," said Sylvanas harshly, squeezing her leg hard enough to bruise. "If the warchief says we have to attack Theramore, we'll attack Theramore."

Faith rounded on her, but the look on her face was enough to keep her quiet.

"Of course," mused Sylvanas, "there are a few things we need to consider."

"Like what?"

"Like the fact that if we destroy Theramore, Stormwind will turn against the closest enemies it has in the Eastern Kingdoms. Namely, Undercity. And they have no love for us after what we did to Gilneas and Southshore." She glanced at Lor'themar, hoping to have some backup there, but he averted his gaze, looking intently at a patch of spotted deerskin next to his goblet of water.

"Are you  _afraid_ , Sylvanas?" mocked Malkorok.

Sylvanas turned her glare in his direction, but the gray-skinned orc didn't flinch.

"Just looking at the big picture," she said. "There are Orgrimmar citizens living in Undercity."

"You won't need to worry about them," said Garrosh. "We will cripple the Alliance so well that they won't be able to retaliate for a long while."

Faith pried Sylvanas' hand off her leg, "Warchief, you want to attack a city that is full of unarmed people. There aren't just sailors living there, but women and children who have never once held a weapon."

"All the more easy to kill them," he said. "Why do you care about them so much?"

"The people of Theramore fled the Scourge of Lordaeron," said Faith quietly. "Jaina Proudmoore founded the city after Medivh told her to go there just before Arthas attacked Stratholme."

Garrosh began to laugh, "It always comes back to that with you, doesn't it? The Scourge? It has nothing to do with this."

Shaking her head, Faith kept speaking, "It's not about the Scourge. I just thought you'd want to know a little about the people you're planning on murdering."

"I don't care about them. I want Theramore gone. It's too close to us. I will not discuss this any further with you, mage. You are not a leader of the Horde, and with good reason."

Faith took the insult and sat back in her chair, "I'm of the opinion that you're wrong about this."

"I don't give a damn about your opinion," he snarled.

Merely shaking her head, Faith held her tongue during the rest of the meeting, looking at each of the leaders. It was obvious, to her at least, that she wasn't the only one who disagreed with what Garrosh was planning. In fact, the only one of them who seemed to have no issues was Gallywix. Lor'themar wasn't saying anything at all, and Vol'jin and Baine, while telling Garrosh they were in favor of the attack, had grim looks on their faces.

The meeting adjourned, with Garrosh telling them all to be at Bladefist Bay in two weeks' time with as many forces as they could spare. They agreed and left Grommash Hold, with Sylvanas keeping a death grip on Faith's arm, nearly dragging her out.

"What could you possibly have been thinking in there?" she cried at her, her eyes flashing redder than usual.

"You seem to forget the fact that you're physically stronger than me, Sylvanas," hissed Faith. "Let me go before you break my arm."

Sylvanas shook her once, "What were you trying to prove?!"

"By the Sunwell, Sylvanas,  _release_  me!" Faith cast a silent spell that forced the queen to break her hold on her arm.

" _Answer me_!" She went to grab Faith's arm again, but Faith backed away, hitting the wall of a building and hurting her elbow. "What were you trying to do?"

"It's wrong, Sylvanas. The whole idea is wrong."

"What you think doesn't matter! Not here!"

"So what, you want me to curl up on Garrosh's lap like a good puppy while he attacks non-military targets?"

"He wants to control Kalimdor."

"The way you're not controlling all of Lordaeron? He wants to do to Theramore what you did to Southshore."

"That was different."

"How? You attacked Southshore without any kind of provocation."

"We needed test subjects."

"Oh, right, I'm sorry, you needed  _test subjects_ , so you went ahead and destroyed an Alliance town, practically killing everyone inside, using your damn Blight."

"Whose side are you on?" demanded Sylvanas.

"The Alliance's, according to Malkorok. Look, I'm opposed to the killing of innocent people. Is that so wrong?"

"I highly suggest that you get into another line of work if you're opposed to doing violence to the Alliance, Faith."

"We're supposed to be at peace with the Alliance! Why is it so damn hard for you lot to understand that concept?"

"I'm not really one for peace, to be honest."

"Horse shit."

Sylvanas raised an eyebrow.

"You can't find the peace you crave, and therefore, you're doing everything you can to make sure that others feel the same torment you do. I thought you'd gotten  _over_  this."

"Is that what it's all been about? You've been my lover to calm me down and bring me peace, so that others could be at peace too?"

"You know that's not it," said Faith quietly. She sighed and took a step closer to Sylvanas, touching her hand, "You know I love you."

"Mm. You also make me crazy."

Someone cleared their throat, causing Faith and Sylvanas to look around. Malkorok stood there, apparently very amused at what he had witnessed.

"Trouble in paradise?" he asked. "That's a shame." He looked at Faith, "I would like to speak to you. Alone, if you don't mind."

Sylvanas minded, but she said nothing about it, moving away while still keeping an eye on them.

"What can I do for you?" Faith asked him.

"You can tell me why you're opposing the warchief."

"I thought he didn't give a damn about my opinion?"

"The question remains. Why do you oppose Garrosh?"

"I don't oppose him. I just think that it's wrong to attack a defenseless city, that's all, especially during peacetime."

"So you will not support him," the tone in Malkorok's voice was dangerous as his hand strayed toward the blade he had strapped to his waist.

"If he needs me there, of course I will be there. But it doesn't change the fact that I do not agree with it."

"Be careful who you say that to. Your words may be heard as a betrayal to the Horde."

"I have no intention whatsoever to betray the Horde, Malkorok. Tell Garrosh that I will be there if he so wishes, even if I don't agree with his intentions."

"And you will follow his orders, no matter what?"

"I always do."

"You had better." He left her there, and after a few seconds, she walked to where Sylvanas was waiting.

The two didn't speak until after they'd regained their camp, which had been tidied up by the others.

"So, what did he want?"

"Mostly to tell me that I had better support Garrosh during this campaign."

"Will you be?"

"Well, as I'm not feeling suicidal at the moment, yes, Sylvanas, I'll support him, if it's absolutely necessary for me to do so."

"Oh, I think it will be. By telling him that you didn't agree with him, you secured yourself a spot in the campaign, something I would have liked to avoid."

"I'd rather be there, to be honest. If we're going to destroy a city full of innocent people, I want to see it for myself. I want their image to remain imprinted in my mind so that when my time comes to go, I'll remember what I did to them."

She and Sylvanas returned to Undercity the following day, taking with them several additional orc troops who would be station in Lordaeron. They didn't speak about the upcoming battle, although Faith knew that Sylvanas wouldn't be there.

"Since you're going, there's not much point in my coming as well," she said once they got home.

Faith nodded, "Who will you send in your stead?"

"Captain Farley will do the job nicely. He's commanded troops before."

"Frandis," said Faith quietly. "Sure, he was with us when we went to Deatholme. He's very capable."

"Right. He'll do fine."

"You're really not coming?"

Sylvanas shook her head, "No, and neither is Lor'themar. As far as I understand it, he's sending someone to oversee the Sin'dorei troops instead of him. You'll be able to command both the Forsaken and the Sin'dorei."

A blink, "You want me to be a commander in a battle I have no desire to fight?"

"You got yourself into this mess, Faith, so, yes, I think that you should be the leader here."

Faith sighed. She had no choice in the matter, especially when, the following day, she received an official order from Garrosh to be in Orgrimmar with the troops.

"I told you he'd want you there," said Sylvanas, examining a map of Kalimdor on the wall. "Northwatch Hold lies between Orgrimmar and Theramore, so you'll probably attack them as well."

"I don't doubt that he'll want people to attack Honor's Stand in the Southern Barrens as well," said Faith, pointing to that area on the map. "It's going to be a massacre. They won't see it coming."

"No," said Sylvanas. "They won't."

Feeling increasingly uneasy, Faith got ready to leave for battle. Sylvanas made sure that she had her hearthstone with her, just in case, and kissed her before she boarded the ship that would take her and the others back to Durotar. In the distance, a couple of Sin'dorei ships waited for them.

"Stay safe," said Sylvanas to her. "Just do whatever is asked of you and get out of there, do you hear me?"

Faith nodded, "I love you."

"I love you too."

The ships left. Sylvanas stayed on the docks until they were completely out of sight, before going back to Undercity. Something nagged at her, a feeling she couldn't identify. After a while, she forgot about it, and settled down to wait.

Faith and her troops reached Bladefist Bay to find that it had been completely geared for war. Orc ships from all over Kalimdor were docked there, making it interesting for the Forsaken and Sin'dorei to find a place to dock.

"Ah, there you are," said Garrosh to Faith. "Out faithful Forsaken and elves." He glanced at them, "I don't see Sylvanas and Lor'themar."

"No," said Faith. "They're not here. I'm representing both of them, along with Captain Frandis Farley and Blood Knight Kelantir Bloodblade."

"Is that so? Two of my leaders who decided not to join me? That's very interesting."

Faith didn't respond, but Frandis and Kelantir both looked at her, worry in their eyes.

"What do we do?" asked Kelantir quietly.

"Whatever they ask of us," replied Faith. "Don't worry, just do the best you can."

They began their march south the next morning as the sun was just about to rise. Faith, not having brought Lady with her, rode a Forsaken warhorse, who seemed as comfortable with her as it did with undead riders, even asking her for a cuddle, which she found strange.

"They feel the same thing normal horses feel," said Frandis. "They like it when we pat them, even if, physically, I doubt they can feel anything."

"Reminds me of Invincible," whispered Faith, remembering the way Arthas' undead steed had seemed to love his caresses. She shuddered. This was not the time to think about such things. Word had just reached them about a group of tauren and orcs who had attacked Honor's Stand on Garrosh's orders. The attack hadn't gone well, but had provided a distraction for the few Alliance forces nearby.

Nobody saw them coming until it was too late. The few outposts that stood between them and Northwatch Hold were obliterated in a few minutes, the Alliance soldiers unable to fight against the hundreds of forces marching upon them. Faith found herself killing a soldier that couldn't have been older than eighteen years old, and forced herself not to cry when he stared at her, betrayed.

_This is wrong_ , she kept thinking as she fought. Not a word did she speak, however, even as she made camp with Vol'jin and Baine, both of whom seemed sickened by what was going on.

"We will be at Northwatch tomorrow," Garrosh was saying loudly. "Nobody who has seen us survived to tell the tale, so it will be easy to get rid of the fortress." He laughed at the thought, rubbing his hands together.

Baine was staring at an orc shaman, who had a bound elemental with him. Even to Faith's untrained eye, the elemental looked uncomfortable away from the elemental plane.

"He's going to use those to his advantage," said Baine. He lowered his voice, "Thrall would have never allowed something like this to happen."

Faith swallowed, thinking that there were a great many things Thrall wouldn't have allowed to happen, but he had been the one to choose Garrosh as his replacement, and they had to live with it.

And live with it they did.

They attacked the fortress of Northwatch Hold the following morning, even before the sun came up. Faith had been in many battles in her life, but none as bloody as this one. Most of the soldiers had been coming on watch when the attack began, and a lot of them weren't prepared for such an assault.

Alarms sounded, but Faith was already there. With tears in her eyes, she stuck her spellblade into the chest of a leader who was still putting on his armor.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered to him as he died. "So sorry."

But she had to keep going.

Blood and gore decorated the walls as she walked through the hold, looking for soldiers who would be cowering under tables or behind doors. One of them, an old man, nearly took off her head as she passed by him.

"Nicely done, soldier," she told him. "You surprised me."

"Why are you doing this?" he demanded.

"I would tell you to ask our warchief," she replied. "But unfortunately, you're not going to get that chance." She raised her hand and incinerated him on the spot, cutting off his cry immediately.

By the time the battle was over, not one living Alliance soul remained within the fortress, and Faith found herself in a room alone, tears of shame running down her cheeks.

"What honor is there in what we just did?" she asked Baine later as she cleaned the battle from her robes.

"There isn't any. Although I suspect that Garrosh would tell us that there is always honor is showing that the Horde reigns supreme."

She shook her head. As far as she was concerned, there was no supremacy in this, only dishonor.

Baine looked around before speaking, "I've sent a runner to Theramore," he whispered in Taur-ahe.

"A runner?" she replied, alarmed. "What if he gets caught?"

"He won't be. Theramore  _must_  be warned. I will not fight a defenseless enemy. My father would have never done this."

No. Cairne would have never allowed his warriors to fight that way. Faith suspected that Baine was especially alarmed by the fact that the shaman had forced elementals to destroy everything they could. Several areas of Northwatch Hold were burning as she watched.

"Let us hope that everything works out, one way or another, Chieftain," she told him, still unable to believe what she had done.

A nightmare came to her as she slept, one that caused her to wake up screaming. In it, she was a killer, working for a man who was no longer a man, but something twisted by cold death, his blue eyes glowing with the powers of the runeblade at his side.

She saw herself killing her own mother and brothers. Saw her village fall as she smiled. She saw herself torturing a woman with golden hair and sky-blue eyes who had loved her. She saw her die.

"Faith!" Baine put a hand on her back as she sat up, crying out in horror.

"Relax," said Vol'jin quietly. "Just a bad dream."

Faith was gasping, her hands shaking as the dream slowly slipped from her mind. "I never dreamt that I was part of the Scourge before…" she whispered, wiping at her eyes.

"You dreamt something like that because of what happened," Baine told her. "It doesn't make you evil."

"Doesn't it? I killed men who weren't ready for battle. I've killed Alliance before, we all have, but never like… never like this… I don't know how others do it."

"I wish I could tell you that it gets easier," said Vol'jin. "It doesn't."

"I guess that when it does, it'll be time for me to retire." Faith took a sip of water before lying back down, "I wish Sylvanas were here."

"She is always with you, even if it's not physically. Go back to sleep, Faith, we will watch over you."

Morning dawned, the rising sun coloring the sky pink, then yellow and blue. It was a beautiful sight, if one simply kept an eye on the sky. But if one's gaze lowered, the spectacle changed.

The Horde was getting ready to move. Even from a distance, the ruins of Northwatch Hold smoldered, and one could just make out several bodies lying there, exposed to the elements. Carrion birds had already begun to circle overhead.

"Onward to Theramore!" cried Garrosh. "Today will be known as the day we razed that city to the ground!"

Most of the orcs assembled there cheered. Faith, however, remained silent. Most of the dream she'd had had faded from her mind, except for the image of Sylvanas dying. She blinked, trying to clear her head. On her left was Baine, who looked determined. His runner, Perith Stormhoof, had returned just before dawn with the news that he had warned Jaina of the upcoming battle.

They now had little choice but to go through with it. Faith only hoped that it would completely end in disaster.


	32. Chapter 32

Dustwallow Marsh was one of these places that was lovely, but eerie at the same time. Moss hung from trees, almost touching the ground and feeling like cobwebs on one's cheek. The air, so dry in the Barrens, was sticky and heavy with heat and humidity here. It was darker too, the sunlight not filtering down as well through the trees.

Anything could have jumped out at them from the shadows, and the few webs Faith saw indicated that there was more than one arachnid nearby.

"Have you been here before?" Frandis asked her.

She shook her head, "I've never had the occasion to come here. Even when I went to Tanaris once, I went through Feralas and Thousand Needles."

"It seems like it could be a good area for the Forsaken," he said.

"Could be, but the heat and humidity would deteriorate you guys really fast. You need dry weather, not this. But I know what you mean."

They were coming up on a structure that appeared to be a watchtower from a distance.

"It's occupied," said Garrosh.

"By more than one soldier, it seems," added Malkorok. "Scouts! Go look into it and report back!"

Everyone stopped, waiting for the scouts to return. Faith didn't have to look at Baine to know that he was relieved about the fact that Jaina had taken his warning seriously.

The scouts came back, reporting that several dozen soldiers were manning the tower, apparently waiting for them.

"There's not a lot of room to fight," said one of them. "Some of the soldiers are in the trees, while other are on top of the tower. Their snipers could take some of us down."

Garrosh grunted, "Damn, they must have been warned, but how? I thought we had killed everyone." The next moment, he shrugged, "Never mind, we'll crush them anyway. Everstone, take your forces and go around them. If you see any soldiers in the road, kill them."

Faith nodded and signaled to the Forsaken and Sin'dorei troops to follow her. Using magic, she made sure that they weren't walking into an ambush before proceeding.

Kelantir rode next to her, "What do you think about all this?" she asked.

"Nothing good. But we can do nothing except follow our orders. The sooner we do that, the sooner we can get home."

"We're really going to attack Theramore like this?"

"It looks that way. It's best not to think about it too much. Now, quiet, we're getting close to the tower."

They approached the structure, hearing several human voices nearby. A patrol.

"Do you really think that what we heard was true?" asked one soldier. "That the Horde is attacking us?"

"I don't know why they would, but Lady Proudmoore told us to be vigilant and to triple our watches, so there must be something… do you smell that?"

"Damn," hissed Faith. "Move, everyone, quickly before they find us!"

The soldiers barely had time to scream before Faith and the others were upon them. It was a small patrol of twenty men, and while everyone fought as bravely as they could, they had no chance against the Forsaken and the Sin'dorei.

"Do we just leave them here?" asked Frandis as sounds of battle reached them from the tower.

"No. I've got it."

She moved to a clear area not far from where the soldiers lay dead, and dug a grave with a spell. Once it was deep enough, she instructed her troops to put the bodies there, having stripped their insignias from their chests. She covered the mass grave with dirt, adding a crude headstone there, with the name of the unit the men had been assigned to.

"Why did you do that?" asked Kelantir afterwards.

"If there's one thing living with the Forsaken has taught me, it's that everyone deserves a proper burial. These soldiers fought well. This was the least I could do for them."

They joined Garrosh and the others just as they finished with the soldiers at the tower.

"Theramore should be just around this bend," said the warchief. "Let's go greet them."

"It may not be that easy," said Faith. "We encountered a patrol, and before we killed them, they spoke of how Jaina was alerted to the upcoming attack and told them to be ready."

"Good. Then they'll be scared. Just imagine the women and children cowering in their homes as we get ready to attack them."

Faith couldn't. An image of her own village in ruins came to her mind, and she remembered how terrified people had been when another army had invaded unarmed settlements with the express reason of killing everyone there.

Turning her steed away from him, she followed everyone as they began their march one more time.

Theramore suddenly appeared in front of them, huge and impenetrable. Garrosh sent several troops to attack from the rear gate, but kept Faith with him, not wanting to keep her out of sight.

"They know we be here," said Vol'jin.

"Yes," said Faith. "They do."

And they did indeed. Faith felt magic surrounding Theramore, enhancing their defenses, and while Garrosh ordered her to find a way to bring them down, she knew that it would take several hours before they would be able to do this, thus allowing Jaina ample time to evacuate her people by ship.

But Garrosh didn't allow her to do that. He had his own ships ready to interfere with any evacuation that Jaina might have planned. Faith heard cannons as she worked to bring down the protective wards of the city, finally creating a small breach in the defenses. It wasn't much, but enough to send people into the city three at a time.

"You should have brought more mages here, considering the fact that we're fighting Jaina Proudmoore," she told Garrosh.

"I thought you were one of the best mages in the world, Everstone. Do you suddenly doubt yourself?" He ordered people to start attacking the city. "Continue to widen that breach. We need to be able to bring that wall down."

It was easier said than done. Garrosh had only thought to bring a handful of mages, although Faith had had the foresight to take several members of the Magi Corps with her. Together, they widened the breach until it was big enough to take a siege engine through.

She moved into the city.

It was pandemonium. Orcs were killing indiscriminately, targeting both human warriors and terrified women.

"The Blackrock orcs are doing that," said Kelantir. "Look at their skin, it's not the orcs we're used to. They're fighting fair, at least."

Faith had no time to answer, as a dragon roared above her. Horrified, she recognized Kalecgos, and heard a voice that nearly made her turn and run away. Rhonin.

"The Kirin Tor are here!" she cried, dismayed.

"So what?" asked Garrosh.

"If the Kirin Tor are here, it means that they're siding with the Alliance."

She couldn't fight against Rhonin, it was unthinkable. He was her mentor!

"Are you  _scared_?" he sneered. "I didn't know you were a coward, Everstone."

Faith bristled, "No, I'm not scared." She was terrified. "I just wanted to warn you of the consequences of having the Kirin Tor as your enemy." She left him, hearing his laughter from where she was.

The attack on Theramore began in earnest.

Catapults began to fire huge projectiles into buildings, and judging by the shrieks that came from them, all of them were occupied. She saw several people trying to leave Theramore by side entrances, but Garrosh had stationed warriors there, who cut down anybody who attempted to go past them.

She quickly joined Baine and Vol'jin, who weren't battling, merely giving quiet orders to their troops. Faith saw a night elven druid flying overhead and turning into a nightsaber in midair. It fell onto the nearest orc and began to tear him to shreds. Closing her eyes, Faith whispered a fire spell, killing both the druid and the orc where they were fighting.

"Garrosh means to kill everyone in Theramore," she said. "He's not even allowing anybody to escape to safety."

"Yes," said Vol'jin. "We noticed."

"And the Kirin Tor are here," added Baine. "I thought I saw Sylvanas' sister here as well."

"Vereesa's here?" asked Faith.

He nodded. He opened his mouth to say something, but suddenly, the wards around the city shattered like glass, the sound like breaking crystal in their ears.

" _Now_!" cried Garrosh. "Attack,  _all of you!_ "

Faith frowned. How had the wards fallen so quickly? It had taken her hours just to make a small breach. "What happened?"

Baine sighed, "Garrosh had a spy in the Kirin Tor. I suspect he did this."

"Fantastic," she whispered. She went back into the city, but didn't attack anybody, merely watching as her troops fought soldiers. She had given them the express order not to harm anybody who was unarmed.

Garrosh called to her some time later. He was jovial, triumphant. Around them, the battle raged as night began to fall.

"I need you to do something for me," he said.

She nodded, "Of course, warchief."

"Apparently, Vereesa Windrunner is here along with General Shandris Feathermoon, I think you've heard of her."

"Of course, she leads Feathermoon Stronghold in Feralas, and is the adopted daughter of Tyrande Whisperwind and Malfurion Stormrage."

"That's her. They've both gone after our little friend who helped us take down the wards that got the better of you."

"The Kirin Tor spy, you mean."

He looked at her, "You disapprove."

"My opinion doesn't matter," she said, echoing the words Sylvanas had said to her. "What about them?"

"I need you to find them and kill them."

"Kill them… you want me to kill Vereesa Windrunner? Sylvanas' sister?"

"Exactly. I have no doubt that someone like you can take care of two elves. You should go immediately. I wouldn't want them to kill our friend. He's a hero of the Horde after all."

Kill Vereesa. Garrosh expected her to kill Vereesa.

There was no way that was going to happen. She couldn't. Everything inside her told her to use her hearthstone and go back to Undercity that instant. But if she did that, she would bring the entire Horde down on the Forsaken. She and Sylvanas would most likely be killed trying to protect each other, and Sylvanas would be damned for all eternity.

"Will you do it?" Vol'jin asked her as she climbed on her undead horse.

"I have to see if I can find them first," she replied. "But even if I can do that… I won't manage to kill them, and I think he knows that."

It was a suicide mission. Garrosh expected her to die in combat.

She wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

She left Theramore, seeing that there were some people who had managed to escape the city. Quietly, she cloaked them to make sure that nobody would see them. Hopefully, they would be able to find a safe haven somewhere, although it was quite unlikely.

It was fully dark by the time she reached a deserted part of Dustwallow Marsh. The wildlife, terrified by what was going on, had vacated the area as soon as the Horde had arrived, and so she found herself completely alone for the first time since she had left Undercity.

She wasn't a tracker by nature, but Faith had been trained by Sylvanas to follow a trail. It took her some time, especially since there was very little moonlight, but after a couple of hours had passed, she was able to find traces that belonged to Vereesa and someone who was undoubtedly Shandris.

_What are you going to do once you find them? Will you try to kill them?_

"I can't…" she whispered to herself. Not killing them meant betraying the Horde. But killing Vereesa would mean betraying Sylvanas. And she knew that she would rather face a thousand deaths than betray Sylvanas.

A noise to her right made her jump. It was a snuffling sound, and she distinctively heard the whimper of a child. Climbing down from her steed, she went towards the sound, hear ears picking up small shushing sounds. She moved aside a brown frond.

One of the children gave a small cry, her eyes absolutely terrified. There were about twelve of them there, all of them injured in some way or another. They looked hungry and scared, and tears had made clean tracks on their dirty faces.

"Did you kids escape Theramore?" she asked them in Common.

They nodded, huddling closer together.

"You're lucky you got this far without getting killed." She raised her hand and they whimpered in fear, but she merely lit a fire for them, a black one so that it wouldn't be seen from afar. "Are you hungry?"

They all nodded.

"Where are our parents?" asked one of the boys, who couldn't have been older than ten years old.

Faith didn't want to answer that, "Don't worry about that now, okay?" She conjured some bread and water for all of them, "Eat something, you guys."

"Will you stay with us?"

"No. But I'm sending you all to Dalaran. You just need to eat, or you won't be able to go through the portal without getting very sick."

The children ate their bread quickly, still scared and looking around like rabbits caught in a trap. When they were finished, Faith conjured a portal for them.

"Go, quickly," she said.

"You're Faith Everstone, aren't you?" asked the oldest girl there, a child with freckles and brown eyes. "Blackfire?" She pointed to the fire Faith had conjured.

Faith nodded.

The child hugged her quickly, "Thank you," she said, before taking a little boy's hand and disappearing through the portal.

Faith stayed there a while longer, erasing all traces the children had left before taking her skeletal horse and going on her way again.

She didn't find Vereesa and Shandris until the following morning, after a rainy morning had come. She came to them almost by accident, and the two of them stared at her, their weapons raised.

"What are you  _doing_ here, Faith?" cried Vereesa.

"Garrosh sent me to kill you."

"And so you've followed his orders like a lap dog," spat Shandris.

"Of course not. If it were just you, General Feathermoon, I might even give it a try. But I think that even Garrosh knows that I cannot kill Sylvanas' sister."

"So why are you here then?"

"To do you a favor. Go back to Dalaran."

"We can't leave our people there to fight alone!"

"Did you find the spy you were looking for?"

Shandris nodded, "You will not get him back. He's in our custody for treason. As should you be."

"Yeah, I'm fairly certain that I'm going to be executed for treason once I get back to Garrosh. Look, you two really need to go."

"What's that?" cried Vereesa, pointing towards Theramore.

They were standing on top of a small hill that gave them a direct view towards the city. Faith took out a pair of binoculars. Above Theramore, she saw something that made her blood run cold. Something was floating above it, obviously being steered by a small goblin zeppelin. A blue dragon was trying to bring the thing down, with absolutely no success.

"It's… a mana bomb," said Faith quietly.

" _What_?" cried Shandris.

"No! He can't! He'll destroy everything around there! Everyone inside the city will die! We  _have_  to go back!"

Faith and Shandris both grabbed Vereesa's arms, "You can't, Vereesa!"

"I have to!  _Rhonin!_ "

"Vereesa, think of your sons! If you manage to get back there now, you'll run into a wall of Horde soldiers who will not hesitate to kill you!"

"No!"

Faith was crying. As she and Shandris struggled with Vereesa, the bomb dropped over Theramore. There was a tremendous explosion that made the air above Theramore burn pink and white. The very earth shook. Silence descended upon them.

Vereesa started to scream, going limp in Faith's arms. Numb with shock, Faith could only hold her, staring at Shandris, whose eyes were wide and wet with tears.

"You have to go," said Faith, her voice sounding completely alien. "You have to, Vereesa. Tell everyone what happened."

"What about you?" Shandris asked her.

"I have to get back. If I don't, Garrosh will fall on Undercity and Quel'Thalas…" she hugged Vereesa tightly. Vereesa clung to her, hot tears spilling from her eyes. "I'm so sorry, sweetheart. So sorry…" she kissed her forehead and released her, murmuring a few words so that a portal appeared at the bottom of the hill.

Shandris put an arm around Vereesa and led her to the portal, nodding to Faith and stepping through it. The moment they were gone, Faith sank to her knees and began to sob.

_By the Light, what have we done?_

Slowly, she returned to where she knew the Horde army to be, reaching them a few hours later. She couldn't think. Couldn't feel. Rhonin… there was a possibility, however slim, that he had survived, but only if he had escaped the city. And she knew that he would have never left the people of Theramore to their fate.

Baine got to her first, catching her as she practically fell off her horse, "Did you find them?"

She shook her head, "No." She looked towards where Theramore had been. Celebratory shouts rang out throughout the marsh, orc warriors celebrating their victory. "Did… Baine, did you see Rhonin…"

"Oh, Faith, I'm so sorry…"

By a supreme effort, Faith managed to pull herself together and face Garrosh. He accepted her explanation, telling her that he hadn't actually expected her to find them.

"I did find a trace of magic at some point. They might have had a mage with them, and escaped."

"If that's the case, we'll find them soon. We'll go back to Orgrimmar now and prepare for an assault on Feathermoon Stronghold. Today was only the beginning of the Horde's triumph in Kalimdor!"

Triumph. Garrosh and most of the orcs certainly seemed to think that what they had done was a huge victory for the Horde. But Faith saw many others who didn't share that point of view at all. They were all quiet, forcing themselves to cheer when Garrosh looked at them.

Still stunned, Faith rode quietly between Baine and Vol'jin. She didn't eat at all until they got back to Orgrimmar. Scouts had been sent ahead to tell everyone that they had won the battle, and the city had prepared an enormous celebration for them.

Horns blew in every direction and fighters were handed overflowing mugs of ale from every tavern they passed. Enormous pigs were roasting over fires along with every other kind of meat available in Durotar.

In absolutely no mood to celebrate, Faith remained as long a she could, then snuck away with most of her troops, leaving Orgrimmar and making her way to Razor Hill, where celebrations were more somber.

Walking into the inn, she found Baine and Vol'jin there with most of the Forsaken and Sin'dorei troops, and collapsed on a chair, resting her head on her arms.

"It has been a difficult day," said Baine.

"You might say that," whispered Faith. "We ought to be ashamed of ourselves for what we did."

"Faith, at the end of the day, you were following orders."

"Orders to kill innocent civilians. Orders I didn't believe in."

"None of us believed in this campaign," said Frandis. "What we did… had we been provoked, it would have been something else."

"Or had we just killed the soldiers," added Kelantir.

"You didn't kill civilians, did you?" asked Faith in alarm.

"No. But in the end, it really didn't matter, did it? That mana bomb killed everything."

It was true. There was nothing left of Theramore save a crater filled with pink dust. She felt ill at the thought that an entire city had been wiped off the map that way, and that she had been a part of it.

And Rhonin was dead. Her mentor. Practically her brother in law. Someone she had loved. He was dead.

Her eyes were swimming with tears again. "I'll see you all later," she whispered, getting to her feet.

Outside, the night was cool, the sky bright with thousands of stars. She walked around a little, keeping here yes on them. Was Rhonin looking down on her right now, disgusted by what she had done?

"I'm sorry," she said. "It was never supposed to be that way."

"Well, well," said someone. "Look at the pretty young elf out on her own."

Faith glanced behind her, seeing an orc there by the light of the one torch that lit the road she was on. The orc had gray skin from what she could see, and malicious eyes. "Good evening," she said. Part of her hoped that he would try to rob her. She wanted nothing more than to take out her frustration on one of the Blackrock orcs.

"Good evening indeed," said another orc, coming up to her right. Out of the corner of her eye, Faith saw Vol'jin and Baine leaving the inn. "What are you doing out here on your own?"

"Just enjoying some fresh air. And yourselves?"

"Oh, we were… looking for you. We have a message for you."

A sudden sharp pain sliced through Faith's lower back, immediately followed by a burning sensation. She turned her head in the direction of the first orc just as he pulled the blade from her back. As she did this, she felt another blade entering her abdomen, and immediately coughed out blood.

One of the orcs pushed her and she fell forward, barely able to break her fall.

The two of them were on her in an instant, stifling her screams with their hands as they stabbed her in the chest, shoulders, legs, and belly. Blood flew. She felt poison coursing through her veins. Her world began to fade.

_No… Sylvanas!_

She blinked and cast the only spell that came to her mind. It was weak, but one of the orcs erupted into black flames just as an explosion rocked the Razor Hill Inn.

The second orc tried to grab his friend, but the fire spread to his outstretched hand. They screamed as the flames consumed them, quickly killing them.

Faith's vision went black.

She lay there for an hour. People raced past her on their way to the inn, but they didn't pay her any attention, and a half hour later, she came to again. Blood had pooled around her body, an alarming amount of it. Barely conscious, she slowly touched the hearthstone in her pocket.

_I don't want to die alone…_  she thought.

A second later, the hearthstone's magic activated, transporting her to the Undercity throne room, where she landed in a bleeding heap on the floor.

There was an otherworldly scream. Shouts for healers. Panicked cries.

Sylvanas leapt to Faith, her face a mask of shock. "Faith! No… no, no, no… what happened? Faith?"

"By the Light… she must have been stabbed two dozen times…"

"Stay with me, Faith!" cried Sylvanas.

Faith opened her eyes. Blinked. She could barely see. "Sylvanas…"

"Baby? You're okay, sweetheart, you're okay."

"Don't… want to die… alone…"

"You're not going to die, my love. You're not. Stay with me, the healers are here."

Running footsteps. A troll druid was the first to arrive, and he stopped when he saw Faith's condition. Even from where he stood, he knew that there was no hope. He walked towards them and began to murmur spells as a paladin and a priest joined him.

"My Lady…" whispered the paladin.

He didn't need to say anything else.

Dusty tears spilled from Sylvanas' cheeks as she cradled Faith in her arms, "Don't leave me," she said.

"I… don't… w-want to be without you, S-Sylvanas."

"You'll never be without me."

"I l-love you…"

"I love you, Faith. So much. I will always be with you, no matter what happens. I will always love you…"

But there was no answer. As Sylvanas spoke, Faith's body went limp, her heart stuttering its last beat. Her amber eyes darkened as they stared at a face they could no longer see. A final tear ran down her white cheek before splashing on Sylvanas' hand.


	33. Chapter 33

**Author's Note**  – To all my readers – I'm sorry! I know that chapter 32 was very difficult to read. It was very hard for me to write. Know, however, that I had this planned ever since I started writing  _Fall and Rebirth_. The same goes for what happens in this next chapter. I hope you'll enjoy it!

With that said - happy holidays, everyone!  I hope that all your wishes come true and that you spend an amazing time with your loved ones!

* * *

Undercity was eerily quiet.

In the throne room, people gathered respectfully, watching as Sylvanas rocked back and forth, holding Faith's body to her. She cried quietly, murmuring words that sounded like a spell. A cloud of black magic swirled around her, but she couldn't do it. The spell petered out.

Suddenly, she gave a scream that caused the entire room to tremble. She began to cry out Faith's name over and over again. Rotvine, who was closest, sat down where he was, unable to form a coherent thought.

A creature arrived, a Val'kyr. How it had known that Sylvanas needed it was a mystery, but it began to hover over the two women.

"Lady Sylvanas… no. You cannot!" said someone, a guard, alarmed.

Sylvanas began to chant again. Anybody looking at her clearly noted that she looked deranged. Unfathomable grief had twisted her features, and at that moment, she cared about nothing. Nothing but the dead girl in her arms.

Faith was dead.

Dead.

After holding on for so long, after going through so much, Faith was dead. Gone.

It didn't make sense. The world didn't make sense.

She chanted, and the black cloud began to swirl around her again. The Val'kyr, Sylvanas didn't care which one it was, took up her incantation, lending Sylvanas her power to raise the dead.

"Sylvanas, what are you doing?" asked Rotvine, finally managing to speak. "Sylvanas!"

But Sylvanas heard nothing. She saw nothing. Dusty tears splashed onto Faith's face, instantly drying there.

Something began to happen. Faith's body started to change.

Glowing with a strong violet light, it twitched. Faith's mouth open, emitting a scream as terrible as the one Sylvanas usually uttered.

The screaming ceased and started anew. Everyone heard Faith's voice, her screams, but everything was distorted.

Faith's skin, which had been a creamy peach color, turned snow-white. Her hair darkened until it became as black as the inkiest night.

She screamed again, and Sylvanas held her tightly, now whispering words to her.

"You're okay, Faith. It's all right, everything's fine. I'm h-here w-with you." She was sobbing as she spoke, barely able to get the words out.

Faith's body convulsed. The screams stopped.

Her eyes opened. Bright, emitting a fiery red and orange glow, they were like burning oval embers in her face.

The first thing Faith saw was Sylvanas. It took her some time to process the fact that she was looking at Sylvanas, because the pain in her body was so intense that it made it difficult for her to process this fact. She tried to breathe, but her lungs were frozen, and for a second, she struggled.

"No, baby, no… it's okay. It's okay…" Sylvanas held her. "Don't try to breathe. You… you can't." Sylvanas' voice broke. She couldn't… couldn't stay there. Slowly, she released Faith and moved away from her.

She got ready to run, but Rotvine moved with a speed he hadn't used since he'd been alive.

"No you don't," he said, grabbing her wrist. "You can't do that! You… you  _raised her from the dead_ , Sylvanas, this is Faith we're talking about!"

"I had to…"

"I don't care what you had to do. You raised her, now you're stuck with staying with her."

"Get  _off_  of me!" Sylvanas wrenched herself away from Rotvine and took off like an arrow, disappearing.

Faith sat up slowly, looking around. "Sylvanas?" she asked. Her voice was ethereal. Terrifying and yet beautiful at the same time.

Rotvine immediately went to her, "Faith, can you hear me?" he asked her.

A slow nod. Her eyes turned to him.

"Everything's okay," he said to her. "You're just…"

"Dead," she finished, speaking slowly. She raised her hand and saw that the skin there was so white that it would have made snow look gray. It even glowed softly in the dark. "What… What happened?"

"I'm sorry, Faith," said Rotvine.

"What happened?"

"We don't know. You came back, and you were dying. Sylvanas… she tried to raise you on your own, but she couldn't."

Faith's gaze cut to the Val'kyr still in the throne room, "So you helped her."

The creature looked at her, not saying anything.

"How do you feel, Faith?" Rotvine put a hand on her arm.

Faith looked down at herself. The clothes she had worn were already starting to rot, exposing patches of white skin. "I don't know," she said. She blinked a couple of times, and her vision focused suddenly. Clearly. She saw everything. Dust particles floated in the air. Tiny spiders scuttled up the wall, leaving strands of delicate webbing in their wake.

Her hearing was sharper as well, although she couldn't figure out how. She heard a cry in the distance. Sylvanas.

"Can you help me get up?" she asked.

"Of course." Rotvine put an arm around her and got her to her feet.

Faith winced as dull pain laced her body. "It hurts," she said quietly.

"That will pass in time. Your body's still getting used to what happened to it."

"I want to see Sylvanas."

"You will." Rotvine turned to the guards, "Find her."

The guards left.

"Why did she leave me?"

"I don't know for sure, Faith. I think that… I think it was just a bit much for her. She needs to grieve for you. She'll come back soon, you'll see. Come on, let's get you to your room."

With Rotvine's help, Faith took a wobbly step, then another. Her legs shook as her muscles no longer actively supported her weight.

"Hang on," he said. "Let the magic do its work. You'll feel better soon."

"Better…" she repeated, her voice low. Sarcastic. "Really?"

"You'll get used to it."

Slowly, but surely, Rotvine got her to her chambers. By then, the clothes she'd worn had deteriorated so badly that they had fallen off her body, leaving her practically naked. Even her boots were falling apart.

"That's normal the first time," he told her.

"No… it's not." Memories were coming back to her of fresh undead. She didn't remember their clothes falling apart quite so quickly.

"Sylvanas tried a different kind of magic to raise you… she'll be able to tell you. Here, try this." He handed her a robe made of fine black leather, "Can you try one of your spells on it?"

Spells? She wasn't even sure that she remembered how to cast any spells.

"I don't know… will my magic work the same?"

"I honestly don't know. Here, try to light a fire in the grate." He pointed to the fireplace.

Faith raised her hand and murmured a basic fire spell. It worked, but the sudden brightness caused her to back away quickly, shielding her eyes.

"Whoa! It's okay, Faith, don't be scared." Rotvine put a hand on her, his bony fingers rubbing her shoulder slowly. "See? Your magic works normally. Just try a simple spell on the robes and see how it works."

Faith turned away from the fire and looked at the robes. She cast her spell, her fingers tingling with the magic. The robes briefly glowed with pale blue light before the enchantment settled into them.

"There you go. It's the same spell you've used on all of Sylvanas' clothes, and it works, doesn't it?"

A nod. Faith took the robes from Rotvine, who turned his face away from her. She was in front of the mirror, and for the first time, got a look at herself. If she hadn't been feeling the way she was, she wouldn't have believed that she was looking at herself. She looked almost the same as usual, but vastly different too. Her eyes gave her pause. Their fiery orange glow was unlike anything she had ever seen before on a living creature.

_You're dead now_ , she reminded herself numbly.

Dead. She was dead. And Sylvanas had raised her from the dead. Just like Arthas had done to her.

"She told me she would never do this to me," she whispered. Slowly, she pulled on the robes, which she had never worn before. She vaguely felt the fabric caressing her skin, like a ghost's touch. "She said that she'd never raise me into undeath."

"If I could cry about this, Faith, I really would. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry this happened to you. It was never supposed to. You weren't supposed to die, and Sylvanas wasn't supposed to raise you from the dead."

"Why did she do it?"

"You died very suddenly. I don't think any of us were expecting it."

"Theramore…" she whispered.

"Yes, you were in Theramore."

"We destroyed it… it's gone, Carrick… Rhonin is dead."

"What?! Rhonin?" Rotvine sat down suddenly, feeling weak. "What happened?"

"It's fragmented…" She told him what she could, but when it came to her attack, she stopped.

"The memory of what you went through will probably come back, don't worry." He took her hand, squeezing it gently, "I'm sorry. We should have been there with you."

"You would have been killed too, just like all the others were."

Rotvine wiped a bit of slime from his mouth, "I need to find Sylvanas. She needs to be told what happened, although I doubt that she'll care in her present state."

"I'll go look for her," said Faith. "I want some time to process all of this…"

"Are you sure? I don't want to leave you alone."

"I'm okay," she said. She was lying, and he knew it. But he understood her need to be alone at that moment.

"All right. If you need me, come and find me, okay? I'll explain as much about all this as I can. Or I can get Velonara or someone to talk to you."

"Thanks, Carrick, but I think I can figure it out by myself."

With a nod, he hugged her and left her on her own. The door closed behind him, and Faith sat on her bed, her head in her hands. It had really happened. She had been killed and raised. She couldn't believe it. And yet, it seemed as though it had been a foregone conclusion, ever since the same had happened to Sylvanas. Part of her had always known that it would end this way.

She tried to sigh, but couldn't, as she had no air in her body, and since her lungs were frozen, she couldn't exhale anyway. She felt a burning sensation in her eyes, and a tear fell. Only it wasn't a normal tear, but one lined with dust. Same as the tears Sylvanas cried.

It hit her then, the situation she was in. She was a risen corpse. A strong urge to set herself on fire came over her, but where would she end up if she died now?

Flashes of memory that had been erased by pain came back to her. She had seen her dead body, and Sylvanas clinging to her. She'd felt very light, and part of her had been at peace. The other part of her had screamed Sylvanas' name over and over again, desperate to get back to her. Then suddenly, she'd slammed back into her body, and knives had punctured every part of her, causing untold agony.

The pain was slowly beginning to fade as the necromantic magics worked their way through her body. Her new body. It was unblemished now, all the scars she'd had having faded away.

The glow of her skin was also starting to fade, so that she looked a little less otherworldly. Her dark lips were already cracking at the edges, and she absently performed a spell to moisturize them, happy when she didn't set herself on fire as she did that.

There was also a smell, she noticed. One of decaying leaves and flowers, unlike the reek most of the Forsaken exuded. It was her smell now, and she also smelled an undercurrent of rotting flesh, although it was very faint to her. She slowly cast another spell on herself so that she could smell like incense, the strongest scent she could think of.

She needed to find Sylvanas.

She put on a pair of leather boots, making sure to reinforce them with another spell so that they wouldn't fall apart, and left her chambers. She felt a little steadier, although she wondered whether she would ever get used to the bizarre sensation she was experiencing. For the first time, she didn't feel tired, or hungry, or thirsty. She still felt some the pain from her injuries, even though everything that had happened to her was invisible now, probably due to whatever Sylvanas had done when she had raised her.

Screams reached her ears. Sylvanas on the surface.

Faith made her way there, abruptly feeling a cold anger within her that she couldn't control. She needed answers, and she was going to get them.

Sylvanas was lying in the ruins of Lordaeron, on the memorial she had erected for Faith. She screamed again, scaring the few birds that hadn't already taken wing at all the commotion. She looked up when she felt Faith's presence, her red eyes widening in alarm.

"Faith…" she whispered.

"What did you do to me, Sylvanas?"

"Baby…"

"Sylvanas,  _what did you do_?"

"I… I couldn't… you were dead. I couldn't…" she choked out a sob, pressing herself closer to the headstone and closing her eyes.

"You  _raised_  me! You raised me the same way  _Arthas_  raised  _you_! You were supposed to love me, Sylvanas. You were supposed to let me go, not turn me into this!"

"I'm sorry, okay? You didn't give me any time! I didn't know what else to do! I couldn't leave you dead, not like this, it wasn't supposed to be like this!"

"And what was it supposed to be like, Sylvanas? Tell me? Were you supposed to have the time to get used to the fact that I was dying? Were you supposed to have a meaningful last conversation with me? I could have just died where I was, without seeing you again, and then what would you have done? I would have never returned to you had I thought for one moment that you would have raised me!"

Sylvanas forced herself to stand, "I didn't know what else to do, Faith!"

"You've turned into Arthas!"

"No… no, I didn't. You can't think that. He raised me out of hatred, Faith. I raised you out of love."

" _Love_? Are you kidding me? You raised me for yourself!"

Sylvanas took a few steps towards Faith. Never had Faith seen her look like that, in all the years she had known her. "I did, okay? I was selfish. But I couldn't… I can't be without you."

"Without me? Did you even think about what  _I_  was going through? Did it ever occur to you?"

"I'm sorry…" Sylvanas took Faith's hand, and the touch was so unusual that Faith's anger evaporated on the spot.

Sylvanas' skin was warm. Or, at least, it felt warm to her. Like it had when she had been alive.

"Oh, Sylvanas…" she whispered, breaking inside. "How could you do this to me?" She pulled her close, and Sylvanas wrapped her arms around her, sobbing against her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Faith… I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to. It just… you died, and I felt like I'd lost my soul again and… oh, your soul!" Sylvanas looked at her, horrified.

More tears, "I guess my soul went to find yours, didn't it? Or at least part of it did."

"Faith, I –."

Faith put a hand against Sylvanas' mouth, "Stop apologizing to me."

"Will you ever be able to forgive me?"

"I don't know," she said truthfully.  _Would_  she be able to forgive Sylvanas for raising her? "I understand why you did it. I was afraid of being without you, and as I… left, part of me was kicking and screaming. I didn't want to leave you behind. But, damn you, Sylvanas, if you didn't just really make me angry by raising me…"

Sylvanas didn't say anything, merely resting her head against her shoulder.

After a while, Faith gently pulled away from her, "Are you okay?"

"You just came back from the dead, and you're asking  _me_  if I'm okay?"

"Are you?"

"No. I had sworn to myself long ago that I would never do that to you. I guess I was lying to myself."

"What were you thinking?"

"I wasn't. I didn't want to lose you… I think I lost my sanity when you died."

Faith chuckled darkly, "Temporary insanity, that's what you're pleading?"

"You don't believe me?"

"Right now, I don't know what to believe. I can't breathe, it's weird."

Sylvanas touched her hair, "You'll get used to it." She looked at her, "You look so different than what I expected…"

"Because you expected me to come back from the dead someday?"

She shook her head, "No. But it was always in the back of my mind when you were fighting the Scourge. I was always afraid of what would happen to you if you were raised. What you would look like and how you would act."

"How did you feel after you were raised?"

Sylvanas thought for a moment, "Sad. I was really sad and dismayed that I hadn't gotten to keep the bit of peace I found the moment I died. But I was raised by Arthas. He didn't care, he just wanted to inflict a maximum amount of pain." She looked at Faith, "I'll try to make sure that you don't turn out the way I did after I left the Scourge. I don't want you to be that angry all the time, baby."

"I am angry. And sad. And scared. I feel like crying. I… I felt you."

"Felt me?"

"When I… when I died. I felt the part of your soul that stayed behind and ascended. You were waiting for me."

Something seemed to go through Sylvanas. An emotion that was impossible to define. "And I ripped you away from that, didn't I?" She moved away from Faith, nearly tripping over a headstone. "You're right. I'm no better than Arthas."

"Spare me your pity party, Sylvanas. You'll understand why I'm not in the mood to console you at the moment."

Sylvanas didn't smile, just looking up at the stars.

"Oh, by the way, Sylvanas. Rhonin is dead."

Sylvanas snapped her head back, " _What_?"

"The Kirin Tor joined the Alliance in Theramore. Garrosh destroyed the city with a mana bomb. Rhonin didn't make it out of there. Vereesa's okay. That's why this happened, actually."

"Tell me everything you remember."

Faith leaned against the wall and began to talk about what they had done. Her memory was becoming sharper with every passing moment, and she somehow managed to get through the entire story without collapsing. "Stupid, right? That Garrosh killed me because I didn't kill your sister. Helping the children escape to Dalaran probably didn't help my cause either."

Sylvanas absorbed this. "So in essence, you betrayed the Horde."

"My choice was simple. Either betray the Horde or betray you. I couldn't betray you."

"And in killing you, Garrosh has made an enemy of Undercity." She ran a hand over her eyes, " _Belore_ , what a nightmare. What am I going to tell Lor'themar? And your family?"

"Oh, I'll let you deal with that, Sylvanas. You raised me, now it's up to you to clean up the mess. You should go see Vereesa. Oh… the twins… Sylvanas, they won't understand."

"I don't think I'll be allowed in Dalaran after this, even if it's to see my sister."

"No. I don't think anybody from the Horde will be allowed in Dalaran after what happened. The Kirin Tor have definitely pledged themselves to the Alliance, and I can't really blame them."

There was a cry from the stables, and Faith looked in that direction, seeing Lady poking her head out of her stall. She appeared to be distressed.

"Lady…" whispered Faith. "I won't be able to ride her anymore, will I?"

"No, she probably won't let you now."

"I guess we can send her to Lor'themar. He'll find a good home for her." Faith walked to the stables, and Sylvanas came with her.

Upon seeing her, Lady gave a cry of despair, instinctively understanding what had happened to her.

"I'm sorry, girl," said Faith quietly. "I'm sorry." She reached out a hand, and Lady tensed, while still allowing her to stroke her feathers. "We're going to make sure you have a good home, all right? I promise."

Lady made a sad sound, like a crying bird, and Faith's throat tightened.

"You need to send word to the other leaders of the Horde, Sylvanas."

"And tell them that I raised you. Sure, Lor'themar will be delighted with that."

"You owe them that. You owe Lor'themar that. They'll hate you for it, I think, not because of me, but because of what I'm supposed to have meant to you. You raised me, and you loved me. What's to stop you now from raising the entire world?"


	34. Chapter 34

Sylvanas had gone back inside the Undercity. Faith had stayed in the ruins, wanting to be alone to think about everything.

She had made her way to the tops of one of the crumbling buildings, and was currently sitting on the roof, overlooking Lordaeron and parts of Tirisfal Glades. The night was quiet and the stars were out. In the distance, Faith saw a wild dog chasing a rabbit.

_What a simple life it leads,_  she mused.  _Its only care is to find food every day, and shelter for the night._

She pressed her hand to her chest, where her heart had been beating only a few hours before. There was nothing. No movement beneath her breast. No blood flowing through her veins. Nothing. Nothing but the necromantic magic Sylvanas and the Val'kyr had used to reanimate her.

Reanimate. Like she was nothing more than a pile of bones held together by skin. She wasn't a person anymore, no longer a Sin'dorei. No, she was a Forsaken now, condemned to damnation if she died again.

A Forsaken. An undead. She had become the very thing she had feared after the Scourge had invaded her home. What was she going to do? Would she keep serving under Sylvanas? She didn't know whether she could do that. She hadn't wanted to leave her, but that didn't mean that she'd wanted to be turned into the living dead either.

Footsteps. They were light, barely stirring the dust on the broken flagstones of Lordaeron, but they were distinct.

A dark ranger. Not Sylvanas, but one of her subordinates.

"Contemplating the meaning of life?" she asked, settling down next to Faith.

It was Velonara, Sylvanas' top ranger, whom Faith had met on several occasions back in Everstone Village. She pulled her hood down, exposing the bone-white hair on her head, and absently peeled a piece of loose skin from her neck.

Faith didn't answer, still looking at a point in the distance.

"This must be a horrible shock for you," said Velonara quietly. "Dying was bad enough, but to be raised into undeath is a pain that I don't envy anybody. And to know that the one you loved above anybody else was the one to raise you… it would drive anybody over the edge."

Still no answer.

"It's not easy, to feel what we feel. We're dead, and so are most of our senses, but our memories are intact, more or less. We got a taste of true death, what it meant to be forever at peace with people we once loved, and it was taken from us in the worst possible way. Now, we'll never find real peace, and if we die again, we will be damned to an incomprehensible hell that we will never be able to escape."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" wondered Faith.

"No. It's supposed to make you realize that you're not alone. We're here with you."

Faith shook her head, "You are, and you aren't."

"Everyone has a different story to tell. Did you know that I had to kill my own son when the Scourge attacked? His name was Tendiel, and Arthas' necromancers raised him before I even managed to make it home."

Faith remembered now, vaguely, that Velonara had been there when Sylvanas had gotten her out of Everstone Village, having joined them the day before the last stand at Fairbreeze Village. She'd never given a thought to what she had gone through.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly. "How old was he?"

"Four. He would have turned five on the day we all died at Fairbreeze." Velonara cleared her throat, "I lost my entire family too, you know, when the Scourge attacked, along with the man I had loved ardently for decades. I know that losing Sylvanas was a turning point in your life, and that you've worked every day to ensure her sacrifice wasn't in vain."

"But it was, wasn't it? I'm dead."

"It wasn't. Look at everything you've done since then. You helped fight the Burning Legion. You fought against the Scourge and killed Arthas. You helped the tauren when Cairne died. You cleared Krasus' name when everyone believed he was a traitor. And, Faith?"

Faith looked at her.

"You loved Sylvanas. You loved her in a way I never thought possible. Your love for each other gave us hope that we could love again, even as Forsaken. Hell, some of us got married because of the two of you. You made us seem more… human, if you'll allow me that turn of phrase. And you certainly made Sylvanas a better person by being with her." Velonara paused for a moment, looking at Faith's stricken face. "I can't think of what went through Sylvanas' mind when you died in her arms."

"She told me she couldn't live without me."

"That doesn't surprise me. She loved you so much when we were alive, and she loved you still after we died."

"You knew that she loved me back then?"

"Faith, everybody knew."

"I didn't."

"Yes you did, you were just too scared to admit it. Both of you were. It took imminent death for you both to admit to everything out loud. I'll never forget that kiss you shared when she let you go."

"You saw that…"

"We were in tears when you left. Sylvanas was… she was a mess those last instants as Arthas approached. She knew that she was going to die and that she would never see you again. When he stabbed her, she said your name."

"Stop…" said Faith. "Please stop…"

"I'm sorry. You just need to understand how she felt about you."

"I know how she felt about me, Vel… she died to protect me. She died to save me from undeath, only to…"

"Only to find that she was completely unable to live in a world where you didn't exist. Look at it from her point of view. She loved you, the two of you were so close after your holiday, and then, suddenly, everything changed and you  _died_. Her world ended."

Faith didn't say anything for a few seconds. "You're telling me that I should forgive her for raising me."

"I'm telling you that you can either try to understand what she's going through, because you love her, or you can go and live a lonely life out there. By yourself. You'll turn bitter and angry, whereas, if you stay with Sylvanas, she can still love you. You can still have a purpose with us."

"There are some things I need to do before I can consider my options."

"Such as?"

"I need to talk to my tauren family and tell them what's happened."

"Sylvanas is taking care of that. You'll have to give them time to adjust before you go see them again."

"Then I'll go to Dalaran."

"You can't," said Velonara immediately. "We've just been told that the Horde was banned from Dalaran, effective immediately."

Faith shrugged, "Then my visit will be short." She got to her feet and climbed down from the roof, landing a little clumsily in the graveyard below. Slowly, she created a portal to Dalaran, wondering whether it would work, with the ban in place. When it did, she stepped through it, landing in the city that had been Rhonin's home for so long.

"Stop right there!" cried someone. "We do not allow the undead in this city any longer! Go back through your portal and never set foot inside this city again!"

A slow smile, "Will you strike me down, Piso?" she asked the man who had spoken to her. "When we worked together so long against the Scourge?"

The man took a good look at her, and then recoiled, tripping over a bench. "Faith!" he cried. "Faith Everstone!"

"Good to know that you can still recognize me," she told him.

"By the Light, what happened to you?" he asked.

"I think that you can guess that. I need to speak to Shandris Feathermoon, if she's still around. I'd talk to Vereesa, but I don't think it would do for her to see me in this state. Not now."

"Aye… Shandris is here, but… you shouldn't be. They're expelling the Sunreavers as we speak."

Faith looked at the clock, not surprised to note that almost a full day had passed since she had been killed. "I'll take my chances."

"I'd best go with you, then." He got up, dusting off his robes, and followed her as she walked around the city. Horde banners were burning here and there, replaced with the blue and gold banners of the Alliance.

"Have you got a prisoner for us, Piso?" asked a voice.

Faith turned around, barely containing her surprise at seeing Jaina Proudmoore standing there. Some sort of relief went through her, happy to know she had survived, but there was much sorrow etched on her face, her blonde hair having turned silver with shock.

"Jaina," she said softly.

Jaina blinked. " _Faith_? What are you… what happened to you? When did you die?"

"Last night."

"But… Shandris said that you helped them."

"Ah, yes. I think that's what got me killed. I can't be sure, though."

"You can't be here."

"Yes, I gathered that. Look, I came here because I wanted you to tell Vereesa what happened. Just don't do it now."

"Who raised you?"

Faith pursed her lips, "You really need me to tell you that? Come on, Jaina, you already know."

Jaina's face turned into a mask of shock, " _Sylvanas_  raised you? She loves you and she –."

"I didn't come here to discuss the particulars of it, okay? I have a lot to get used to before I accept it. I just wanted to let you know so that you could tell Vereesa. Sylvanas would have come herself, but it's not such a good idea. And before you say anything about it… we didn't agree with what Garrosh did. I'm sorry, Jaina."

"You're sorry. And yet you participated in the battle."

"I did, and look where it got me." Faith raised her hand, "I'll go. Please, tell Vereesa that I'm sorry for what happened. And the twins…" She turned to leave.

"Wait, Faith… you should talk to them yourself. It won't make it easier on Vereesa to tell her later. Besides, there are some children here who wish to thank you."

"You don't have to do that."

"Believe me, I don't want to. But Rhonin would want me to. He drew that bomb to him while pushing me into a portal so that neither myself nor Vereesa would be hurt by the blast. He was thinking about her the entire time."

Faith closed her eyes, "Yes… he would have been."

"Well, then, come on. You ow Rhonin's wife an explanation."

Unwilling to do this, but finding she had no other choice, Faith followed Jaina through Dalaran until they reached Vereesa's home. Jaina knocked at the door.

Someone opened it, and Jaina spoke quietly for a few minutes going inside. Suddenly, there was the sound of a breaking plate. Faith heard Vereesa calling out her name.

"Faith! Oh no, Faith!"

Vereesa came running out, dressed entirely in black. Her blue eyes were bloodshot, her face pale and drawn.

"No!" she screamed.

"Vereesa," said Faith gently.

Vereesa burst into tears, collapsing into Faith's arms. "No! Not you too!"

"I know," whispered Faith. "I'm sorry…"

Someone walked out of the house. Shandris. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw the state Faith was in. She whispered something in Darnassian, which Faith vaguely translated into a prayer to Elune. "What happened to you?"

Faith told her. Vereesa looked up at her, her chin trembling, "And Sylvanas… of course she would have raised you. But… how could she do it? She never wanted you to become undead. Never." She wiped at her streaming eyes, "What am I going to tell the twins?"

"Tell them that I won't be able to see them for a while. But if you stop by Hearthglen, I'll come for a visit. You can tell them about me then, okay?"

She nodded. "You're so cold, Faith…"

"Funny, I don't feel cold anymore. Or much of anything, really. At least, not physically."

"What are you going to do now?" asked Shandris.

"I don't know. I don't know whether to stay in Undercity or do something else. Maybe the Argent Crusade will take me like this."

"Sylvanas didn't raise you so that you could leave her, though."

Faith uttered a laugh that was completely unlike her own. "No, I don't suppose she did." She turned away from Vereesa, "I'm sorry for everything. Truly I am. Oh… can you please not mention how I was killed? I would rather Garrosh didn't realize that I know why he had me assassinated."

"You think he would kill you again?"

"He'd probably try to kill Sylvanas first, but yes, I think he would."

"Don't worry, we won't say anything," said Vereesa. "You'd better go."

Faith nodded, "Oh…. The kids I helped out. Tell them, I dunno. Tell them that I was happy to give them a hand." She blinked back tears as she created a portal where she was and landed back in the Undercity throne room.

Sylvanas looked up, pain visible on her features when she saw her. She had obviously been crying.

"You went to Dalaran?" she asked hoarsely.

"Yeah. I saw Vereesa."

"And?"

"She's your sister. You can imagine her reaction. They're not happy with you, by the way."

"They're not the only ones!" screamed a man's voice.

Faith turned her head towards the sound.

"What in the world did you  _do_ , Sylvanas? You raised her! You  _raised Faith_?" Lor'themar walked into the throne room, looking more livid than Faith had ever seen him. "Raised her as an undead.  _How could you_?"

Rotvine took Faith's hand, "Come on, you shouldn't be here for this."

"I can't leave Sylvanas alone to face this," she told him. She blinked, surprised by her own statement. "That was the old me talking."

"Ah, you still love her," he said loudly enough for Lor'themar to stop screaming at Sylvanas.

"I… I don't know. I don't know anything anymore."

"Oh, Faith…" Lor'themar went to her and hugged her tightly. "I'm sorry…"

Faith didn't know what to do. She glanced at Sylvanas, but the Banshee Queen was slumped on her throne with her eyes closed.

"How did this happen to you? Of all the people still left in this wretched world, you were the last one I wanted this to happen to."

"Dying is a natural part of life," Faith told him, having no idea where she'd pulled that line from.

"Yes, but not undeath!" He rounded on Sylvanas again, "She loved you! You raised the one person in the world who loved you!"

Faith pulled at his arm, "Hey, slow down. Sylvanas didn't kill me."

He paused, "What?"

"Sylvanas isn't the one who killed me. Don't blame her for my death."

"I'm not blaming her because you died, Faith, I'm blaming her because she raised you from the dead! Who's going to be next, Sylvanas? Your sister? Your nephews? Me?"

Sylvanas opened her eyes again, "The only person I will explain this to is Faith. You have nothing to do with it."

"Nothing to do with it… fine. From now on, the Forsaken are expelled from Quel'Thalas. You can call your people home, Sylvanas, because Undercity stands alone now. Faith, you're coming with me. I will not let her corrupt you any longer."

"Lor'themar, don't be hasty in your judgement."

"I'm not being hasty. This is the final straw. As far as I'm concerned, Silvermoon will no longer ally itself with Undercity. Are you coming or not?"

"I'm a Forsaken now, Lor'themar. If you expel them, you expel me."

"You're different. Are you coming?"

"I'm not leaving her."

"What do you mean you're not leaving her? She raised you from the dead!"

Faith licked her lips, although it didn't do much good. "I lost Rhonin yesterday, and I lost my own life. I've just found out that the Horde is being expelled for Dalaran because of Garrosh's actions. And now you want me to lose Sylvanas as well? You might as well kill me again."

"I thought you didn't know what you were feeling. That seems very specific to me."

"Just because I don't know what I'm feeling doesn't mean I know nothing. I do know that if I leave Sylvanas, it will be my own decision, and not an ultimatum." She put a hand on Lor'themar's shoulder, "Please don't ask me to give her up too. I have nothing left now."

Lor'themar looked away from Faith and stared at Sylvanas, "I will  _not_  forgive you for what you've done to Faith. But for her sake, I might keep the borders open. I need to talk it over with Halduron and the others first."

Sylvanas said nothing, her eyes still closed. She looked like she was getting a headache.

Lor'themar left after hugging Faith one more time. He looked like he had aged a few years. Faith couldn't blame him. She would have felt the same way had the reverse happened.

Only when he had gone did Sylvanas open her eyes to look at Faith, "Thank you for that."

"Don't thank me. I haven't forgiven you either. I don't know if I ever will."

"But you still love me."

"How do you expect me to answer that? I died loving you, and then you brought me back. I don't know what I'm supposed to be feeling, or what I'm supposed to do. All I know is that I'm a walking corpse who was denied the freedom of true death, and that I have to deal with all of this. So you  _will_  give me time, you understand? Maybe after that, I'll figure out what to do."

She turned away from Sylvanas and began to walk out of the throne room. She wanted to be tired, but felt wide awake and had no idea what she was supposed to do with herself now.

"I didn't kiss you," said Sylvanas suddenly.

"What?"

"I didn't kiss you. I wanted to kiss you one more time before you died, and I didn't do it. I don't know why. I guess… I guess I was too scared."

"That's your problem, isn't it? Give me  _time_. We've established that I'm not leaving you, but that doesn't mean that you and I are going to pick up where we left off. You can wait."


	35. Chapter 35

Hours turned into days. Days into weeks. Faith slowly began to get used to the fact that she no longer needed to sleep and eat, and began to do more around Undercity and Tirisfal Glades. When a nasty bout of rabies hit the animals close to the Bulwark, Faith went to take care of it, despite the fact that the disease had also hit the spider colony residing in Nightmare Vale.

She didn't smile as much anymore, or at all, actually, but everyone told her that she would be all right. Rotvine kept an eye on her all the time, talking to her whenever he had a free moment, which wasn't often, since Sylvanas had him training new recruits to replace the group that had been lost after Theramore. Velonara also spent a lot of time with her, and with her guidance, Faith began to feel more like herself, less lost and confused.

"Maybe we could get you a pet," she suggested. "Spiders make great pets for Forsaken."

"Yeah, that's not gonna happen. I may be undead now, but I haven't developed an affinity for spiders."

Velonara chuckled, then grew serious. "When are you going to Thunder Bluff?"

"Later today. I don't know how that's going to go."

"It probably won't be easy. Your family loves you, and it wasn't easy for them to hear what happened to you."

No, it probably hadn't been. Faith dreaded the encounter with them, because she didn't want to see her parents cry. She wished she and Sylvanas were still close; she could have used her when she made her way to the Spirit Rise to see them.

_I'm still here_ , came Sylvanas' voice in her mind.

"I know you are," whispered Faith. A few days after she'd been raised, she had noticed that Sylvanas was in her mind almost all the time now. She could hear her as easily as if she'd been standing right next to her. It had startled her at first, but since it wasn't the first time the two of them had been linked that way, she'd gotten used to it quickly.

_Just get through this and come home._

Home. Undercity really was her home now, not Thunder Bluff or Silvermoon. Things were too bright in Mulgore, forcing her to pull up the hood of her new leather cloak so that she wouldn't be able to feel the sun on her face.

She reached the Spirit Rise, seeing her parents sitting just outside their home with Hamu and a pregnant Ishaka. To her surprise, Baine was also there, wearing simple clothes made of tan-colored cloth.

"Faith," he said quietly, seeing her.

"Oh… by the Earth Mother, look at you, child," whispered Atalo, while Taisha's hands flew to her mouth.

Hamu could only stare at her, unable to say anything. He held Ishaka's hand tightly, his lips forming inaudible words.

"Hi everyone," she said quietly. "It's great to see you again."

"Your voice…" said Baine. "You sound like…"

"An undead?" suggested Faith. "It's what I am now, for better or worse."

"Oh… how could she raise you from the dead?" wailed Taisha. "It doesn't make any sense!"

"Maybe it doesn't make sense to us," said Baine gently. "But Sylvanas loves Faith, no matter what her actions convey. I imagine that she felt she had no other choice when Faith died."

"That's exactly what she says," Faith told him, sitting down next to him.

"But…" Taisha seemed lost. "How… how do you feel?"

"Better than I did when I was first raised. I've had a bit of time to get used to everything. I have a lot more hours in the day now than I did before, since I don't have to spend time eating or sleeping."

"You don't sleep at all?" asked Ishaka.

Faith shook her head, "No. I can have periods where I don't move for hours on end. Sylvanas calls it her own version of sleeping, because it recharges her a little, but I think she said that so that I wouldn't feel bad for keeping her with me while I slept."

"How are the two of you doing now?" asked Atalo.

"Sylvanas and I?" Faith felt her listening in and shook her head, "She's always in my mind, literally, so it's difficult not to think about her all the time. But…" her voice trailed off and she shrugged. "I don't know."

"Have you been together since she raised you?"

"No. I'm not ready for that yet. I haven't even let her kiss me."

"But you're still in love with her."

A nod, "I am. But I'm not ready to feel everything again. I don't even think I can feel the same way I did before."

"Does Sylvanas?"

"She never answered me when I asked her. She says she loves me and leaves it at that. I don't have more specifics for you."

_Come home_.

Faith ignored her, but Sylvanas wouldn't let her.

_Come home! Now!_

"I have to go."

"So soon?" asked Taisha. "You won't stay a little longer?"

"I'll come back to see you in a few days, I promise." She reached out a gloved hand towards her mother, who took it and squeezed it. "Take care of yourselves. And you, Hamu, take care of my future niece or nephew."

"We think it will be a girl," he said quietly. "That's what the spirits have foretold."

Faith smiled, "Well then, take care of her and Ishaka."

He nodded, "I love you, sister."

"I love you all too." She bowed to Baine, "High Chieftain, it was good to see you again."

"I would say the same, except… I'm sorry, Faith. You shouldn't have gone through anything like that alone."

"Thanks. I appreciate the sentiment. I'll be all right, I promise. I adapt quickly."

"We've noticed. Just… be careful, okay? No more heroics."

"Okay," she agreed. "No more heroics." She walked away from them, creating a portal off the path and stepping through it, landing right next to Sylvanas' throne in Undercity. "What in the world was so important that I had to come home right away?"

Sylvanas started, not having expected her to land quite so close to her. "The way I love you."

"Oh, for goodness' sake, it couldn't wait?"

"No! I don't want to wait anymore when it comes to the two of us."

"That's new. I thought we had all the time in the world now."

"You and I could still die. I may have the Val'kyr now, but you don't and… look, I love you. I really love you. It's different than when I was alive, because I'm fundamentally different now, but I still love you."

"Okay…" said Faith slowly.

"Is that all you're going to say?"

Faith closed her eyes and sat on Sylvanas' lap. "I guess? Does it mean the same to love as an undead than it did when I was alive?"

"Besides anger, what do you feel when you look at me?"

"Besides anger… sadness. I still feel very sad when I look at you, that hasn't changed. I still feel that you should have never died." She opened her eyes again and looked at the banshee queen. "My heart doesn't beat anymore, but I do feel warmth inside when I'm with you, even though I have to dig deep now to find it. More than warmth…"

"A burning heat," said Sylvanas.

Faith nodded, "That's it. It's constant, and it feels good, or it's supposed to. And I do want to kiss you."

Sylvanas immediately leaned over, but Faith put a hand on her chest to keep her at bay.

"I'm just not ready to be intimate with you yet."

"But you love me."

"Yes, I suppose I do love you. That's what makes this so hard for me. I know that all of you have been through this, but, I don't know, Sylvanas. I'm not ready."

Sylvanas ran her hand through Faith's black hair, "This isn't about me, it's about you. If you need me to wait, then I'll wait for as long as you need me to."

"Thank you." Faith climbed down from Sylvanas' lap, "Was there anything else?"

"Yeah, actually." She held up a scroll, "Garrosh wants the fleet ready to go south Apparently they've found this new land, and they're already fighting over it with the Alliance."

Garrosh. Faith felt a dull rage over hearing his name. "You're not actually suggesting that I go down there to help him win this land? Because I'll tell you right now where you can stick it."

Sylvanas pulled Faith back down to her lap, "Calm down. He has requested you. And while I know that the idea of helping him repulses you to no end after what he's done to you, you have no choice in the matter. Neither of us have a choice. He doesn't know that you remember exactly what happened to you. He thinks you believe the story about two bandits who attacked you randomly."

"Of course he thinks that… I circulated the story."

"Indeed. That means that we can't let on that we're against him. Faith, this is of the utmost importance, or he's going to come after you again, and this time, he'll have to go through me, because I won't let him kill you a second time."

Faith looked down, "So, what do you want me to do?"

"Go down there and see what the fuss is about. You'll have to take a fleet down, and that won't be easy because it's a long journey, but you can stay below deck so that the sun doesn't bother you."

"You're not coming with me?"

"Do you want me to? I can if you want. But I was going to send Velonara and Carrick with you."

Faith looked at Sylvanas, "How long will this journey take, do you think?"

Sylvanas tapped Faith's leg, indicating that she should get up, and went to the magical map on the wall. Faith noticed that it had updated itself to include a new chunk of land in the south: Pandaria. "Probably ten days. Two weeks at most." She took Faith's hand, "Do you want me to come along?"

"I… I don't know."

"Of course you know. Look beyond the sadness and anger, you'll figure it out. I won't be able to stay, but I can come with the fleet, and you can portal me home afterwards."

Faith rubbed her temples, "Ugh, I feel like there are two of me in there."

"The living you and the dead you? Yeah, I get that all the time. You have to separate the two emotions from each other."

"How?"

"Generally, I come to you and everything falls into place. Or it did. Right now, I'm at war with myself too, so it's taking a lot more focus for me to decide anything."

"Why do you make it look so easy?" Faith asked her.

"Because I'm me." Sylvanas put her hands on Faith's shoulders, "I would tell you to breathe, but since you can't, I'll tell you to look at me and calm down. Think about the good things."

"What good things?"

"All right. Think for example about the last Winter's Veil we spent together before Quel'Thalas fell."

"That was a while back, Sylvanas."

"Think about it." Sylvanas put a finger on her forehead before gently kissing the spot, "Remember what you felt?"

"I could barely think then either. You were so beautiful, my love."

"My being beautiful shouldn't really factor into the equation."

"But it did. I loved you so much, and you were more beautiful to me because of it. You don't even… you can't understand."

Sylvanas chuckled, "Of course not. I can't understand what it's like to love someone so ardently that I gave my own life for her."

Faith opened her eyes, "That's unfair."

A shrug, "Of course it's unfair. Life isn't fair, you've known that for a while now." She tugged at Faith, bringing her over to the stairs leading up to the throne and sitting down with her, "Okay, we'll try something else. I want you to answer every question I ask you with 'yes' or 'no'."

"Why?"

"Just do it. Don't think about it, just answer, all right?"

"I know your interrogation techniques, Sylvanas. Remember? I used to watch you all the time."

"Well then, trust me." Sylvanas put a hand over Faith's eyes, "Were you born in Quel'Thalas?"

"Yes."

"Is your name Faith Sylvera Everstone?"

Faith's lips twitched. Sylvanas hadn't used her middle name in nearly a century. "Yes."

"Did you have three sisters?"

"No."

"Have you ever been in love?"

"Yes." A sigh.

Sylvanas smiled a little, "Were you ever a ranger?"

"No."

"Do you want me to come with you to Pandaria?"

"Yes." Faith's eyes snapped open, "Sylvanas!"

Sylvanas was grinning, "See? It wasn't that complicated."

"Are you kidding me? That was just…"

"The truth. It was probably buried deep within, but underneath your anger, hatred, and sadness, you want me to come with you because you don't want to leave me. And you didn't want me to know."

Faith crossed her arms and sat back, leaning away from Sylvanas, saying nothing. Her eyes were glaring daggers at her.

"We need to get one thing straight here. You can't hide anything from me. It was already hard for you to do it before, but it'll be impossible for you now. I'm inside you. Constantly. You will always be able to hear me, and I'll always be able to hear you, it's the way this magic works. It's a stronger spell than Arthas used on me, not because I wanted to control you, but because I wanted us linked. You're my soul mate, and you know it."

Faith got up, "Sylvanas…"

"I know. You're not ready. I told you that I'll wait. But stop trying to hide things from me. Be honest with me."

"Why is it that it took my death for you to tell me this stuff?"

The look on Sylvanas' face turned sad, "Because you don't know what you've got until it's gone, sweetheart."

A nod. Faith turned around and started walking away, "Oh… and this whole… bipolar thing I'm feeling, when's that going away?"

This time, Sylvanas laughed, "Your mood is going to be all over the place until you find an anchor. Of course, you have to let yourself find it."

"You mean yourself."

"We're lovers, Faith. It stands to reason that you and I would be each other's anchors. You've always been able to calm me down, or have you forgotten?"

Faith nodded again, remembering the fact that Sylvanas became irascible when she wasn't around. "Carrick always said that most citizens waited until after I got back from wherever I was before they came to you with concerns."

"Right. That's what I mean. You calm me down. Now you have to find something, or someone, that will do the same for you. You'll feel less scattered."

"How did you do it before I returned to you?"

"I was with the Scourge, so my being a full banshee wasn't a problem. As a matter of fact, they encouraged my mood. I can't tell you how many underlings I killed in my fits of rage."

"Arthas didn't care?"

"Of course not. He had thousands at his disposal. Every time I killed ten of them, twenty more would take their place."

Faith looked at her, "I should have been with you then."

"No. I didn't want you anywhere near that. Arthas tortured me, Faith, for months, he tortured me with images of your death. You know this, right?" She waited for Faith to nod. "I saw the things he wanted to do to you. It made what happened to me look like a holiday at the beach. I saw him torturing you so many times that I actually went crazy with it." Sylvanas put a hand on Faith's face, "I didn't want to give you details before because I didn't want those images in your head. I still don't."

"But you think I can understand it better now, because I'm dead?"

A nod, "Yes. You understand the rage that we feel inside after we're reborn. The sadness and despair. There are very few positive emotions within us, because we've had our souls ripped to pieces."

"You're not making me feel any better."

"No, I know. I just wanted to tell you that when you came back into my life, you started to put me back together, piece by piece. I'm still horribly fractured – I don't suppose I would have raised you otherwise – but you've made things better for me. I hope that, eventually, you'll allow me to do the same for you, even if I am the one who fractured you."

Faith didn't know what to say. She wanted to cry suddenly, and did release a dusty tear from her eye, which Sylvanas slowly wiped off her cheek.

"I'll give you time," she said. "When you need me, let me know and I'll be there."

A new day rose over Tirisfal Glades shortly after their conversation. Sylvanas and Faith took leave of each other for a time, both of them getting ready for the journey that would take them to this new continent. Not knowing whether she would have time to go back to Thunder Bluff, Faith made a portal for her family to come and see her, should they wish to do so. Atalo and Taisha came immediately, but Hamu couldn't, as Ishaka was feeling a little ill that day.

"She's all right, don't worry," said Atalo. "Hamu just doesn't want to leave her when she's sick, even if it's because of the baby."

"Understandable," Faith told him. She folded a set of robes and put them in a bag, "Look, we didn't really get much of a chance to talk yesterday. How are you?"

"We're…" Atalo faltered. "To be honest, I'm having a hard time dealing with this. I don't understand what happened to you."

"We got word of you being killed and raised but… why did it happen?"

Faith sat down, inviting her parents to do the same and conjuring some water for them. "You know what happened in Theramore."

"Of course."

"It all comes from that. I can't really say a lot," she switched to a less-used form of Taur-ahe so that anybody listening would have a harder time understanding her, "but I was killed because of my actions. I guess I did betray the Horde, so from that point of view, I understand it."

"You betrayed the Horde by not killing Sylvanas' sister," said Atalo.

"Right."

"But… you… she's practically your family. Why would he have asked you to kill her?"

Faith shook her head, "I don't know, but I think that's why this happened to me. It's difficult to say, because I killed the two orcs that stabbed me. But the official version is that I was attacked by two bandits and that I don't remember anything else."

Taisha nodded, "All right, I understand that. But for Sylvanas to raise you…"

Faith glanced up as Sylvanas walked into the room, "I felt I should be here for this talk," she said, leaning against Faith's desk.

Atalo got to his feet and went to her. Faith was aware of what he was going to do only a second before his fist connected with Sylvanas' mouth.

"Father!" she cried as Sylvanas' head snapped back. Her lip split, and a trickle of dark blood began to run down her chin.

Sylvanas wiped the blood away with her knuckle, "I suppose I deserved that," she said.

Faith got up and conjured a bandage bathed in potion, which she applied to Sylvanas' lip. "Hold this." She turned towards Atalo, "Hey! You're not supposed to hit her! Ever!"

"You may not be made of my blood, Faith, but I love you as such. And what Sylvanas did to you… she's lucky I don't kill her."

"Fair enough," said Sylvanas. "I'm glad that you're still protecting your adoptive daughter."

"Why wouldn't we?" asked Taisha. "Because she's dead? Our people honor the dead, and Faith is precious to us, alive or dead."

"Do not make the mistake of thinking that I don't care about Faith because I raised her from the dead," said Sylvanas in a low voice.

"So you didn't do it for yourself?"

"Of course I did it for myself. Faith died, and I had a moment of weakness when I realized that I couldn't go on without her." Sylvanas' voice broke, and Faith looked at her, alarmed, "I wasn't strong enough to let her go, is that what you want to hear? That I loved your daughter so much that I couldn't let her stay dead?"

Faith fought back a flash of anger, "Enough, please," she said, taking Sylvanas' hand. "Don't get worked up."

Sylvanas pulled away, looking at Atalo and Taisha. A tear ran down her face, "I raised her. I ripped her soul out of wherever it was going, and put it back in a dead body. I fragmented her, and I'm going to have to live with this for the rest of my life, however long that may be. I have loved this girl for nearly a century, and all of a sudden, she was taken from me. You're better people than me, I know, because you would have let her rest, but I couldn't."

She looked very young suddenly, almost alive with the naked grief showing on her features. Her chin trembled, and she made to run out of the room, something Faith had never seen her do.

"Sylvanas," whispered Faith. She put her arms around her before she could run away, pulling her close.

Sylvanas burst into screaming sobs then, sinking to her knees and bringing Faith with her. For a few moments, Atalo and Taisha were at a loss for what to do and could only watch as Faith tried to comfort the woman she still loved.

* * *

**Author's Note**  – Almost Beyond is getting much longer than I originally thought it would be. Because of this, I think it would be better to end it after Mists of Pandaria, and have the third installment of the Evermore Trilogy begin immediately afterwards. This wasn't meant to be a trilogy, but sometimes, the written path goes places one hadn't envisioned. So, we still have a full expansion with Almost Beyond, after which I will begin writing Souls of the Infinite, which should (technically) be the final installment of the series, encompassing Warlords of Draenor (*insert groans here*) and Legion.

Thank you for reading!

Lunarelle


	36. Chapter 36

Sylvanas finally got to her feet again and wiped at her eyes, which felt like they'd been lined with sand. She'd always hated to cry, even when she'd been alive, not only because she thought it made her look weak, but because of the way she physically felt afterwards.

Faith was right there, rubbing her back, but not kissing her the way she usually would have done. That alone was enough to make her want to cry again.

Atalo cleared his throat, "Well, I think we've said what we needed to say. I suppose you're sending her to this new Pandaria land?"

"I'm not," said Sylvanas. "Garrosh is."

"Will you be going?" Faith asked them.

Taisha shook her head, "I'm afraid I'm getting a little too old to go on missions. Hamu would have normally gone, but Baine has given him a steady position in Thunder Bluff now, so he's not going anywhere, and we're okay with that. Why do you have to go?"

"Because being dead hasn't weakened me, but made me stronger in a number of ways," said Faith. "In any case, he doesn't seem to think that it's such a big deal."

"So you're going to go."

"For now," said Sylvanas. "I'll bring her home soon."

"We'll hold you to that," said Atalo. He hugged Faith, "Be careful. Write to us if you can."

"I'll try," said Faith. "Hug Hamu and Ishaka for me, okay?"

"We will," Taisha told her. "Bye, sweetheart."

"Bye, Mother."

Faith made them a portal back to Thunder Bluff, and they left shortly after, still telling her to be careful. Smiling a little, Faith looked at where Sylvanas was now sitting, her chin propped against her knee. She looked sad.

"Are you okay?"

Sylvanas glanced at her, "You know how I said that Arthas had tortured me with images of your death?"

A nod.

"Having you really die in my arms was ten times worse than anything I could have imagined."

"I'm going to take a page out of your book now."

Sylvanas looked at her quizzically.

"Shouldn't you be getting over this? It happened nearly four weeks ago."

"Is that a way of getting me back for all the times I told you to get over my death?" She tugged her hood down, exposing her hair, "I didn't understand, how it stays with you to lose the one you love."

Faith looked at her. Warmth and sadness warred within her until finally, she gave in. Taking two steps towards Sylvanas, she knelt in front of her, took her face in her hands, and kissed her. It was soft, merely a press of their lips together, the kind of kiss they had shared countless times. But it was different, perhaps because, now that Faith was dead, they both shared the same body temperature. It felt warm to Faith, instead of cold, the bit she felt of it.

Sylvanas pulled away from her, her eyes wide, "I didn't know you were going to do that…" she whispered.

"Neither did I." Faith licked her lips.

"I thought you said you weren't ready."

"I'm not. I just don't like you being this sad."

"So you kissed because you didn't want me to be sad anymore?"

"That, and because I wanted to. But it…"

"What?"

"Was it different for you?"

"A little. But I didn't feel much of it. I don't think you did either."

"I felt some of it," said Faith. "You… you feel warm on my lips."

Sylvanas gave a small smile, "Yes, I had a feeling that would be the case. If I'd had an inkling you were going to kiss me, I would have used my potion."

"The famous potion that enhances your senses," said Faith, wanting to laugh.

"It's in my room if you want to try it."

"What's the point of being spontaneous when you're expecting it, though?"

"Do you want to try it or not?"

Faith nodded, "All right. Let's see what this potion's all about. But how does it work?"

"Now you're asking me too much. You're the alchemist."

"No, I mean, how do you absorb it? You don't digest anything anymore."

"Oh, that. It's kind of like for the living, except that we absorb it a lot faster, because it's designed for us. It doesn't have the time to hit our digestive system, and it's strong enough that a spoonful is sufficient to last us an entire day."

Faith was glad she couldn't blush anymore as they reached Sylvanas' chambers, "You only used it for sex?"

Sylvanas looked at her, surprised. "Yes. The problem with this potion is that it allows you to feel more of everything, so, while getting stabbed in our current situation would hurt, with the potion, it would hurt a lot more. You get the drift."

"Does that mean that when we were together before, you didn't feel anything?"

"Honey, I started taking the potion the day I first climbed into bed with you."

Blink.

"Oh. Okay then."

"I didn't take it every day, especially when I knew that we were going to battle, but when I knew that you and I were going to spend a considerable amount of time together, yes."

Faith must have looked as shocked as she felt, because Sylvanas started to laugh.

"Hey, I may be dead, but I'm still made of flesh and blood. I have needs, same as everybody else."

"You mean same as everybody who's actually whole?"

"Yes. And, all right, I didn't feel my needs until a few weeks after you came back to me, but still. I keep telling you that you made me better, this was one of the ways."

"If you tell me that you and I didn't have sex sooner because you were working on this potion, I might actually have to kill you."

Sylvanas just looked at her for a moment before she walked to a bookshelf next to her bed and took down a vial of potion. Faith had never noticed it before, or rather, she had never thought to ask Sylvanas what was in those phials. The potion was a deep violet color, nearly black in appearance. "This should be enough to last you a while," she said.

"What about you?"

"I always carry some on me. The phials are made of a special material that's very difficult to break, so that makes it easier." A look of pain crossed her face, "I'm sorry," she said.

"You've been apologizing to me so much lately that it feels like you're trying to apologize to yourself. So stop it. I'm not happy at all about the situation, but I'm learning to deal with it, same as everyone in here." Faith put the potion in a pocket of her robes, "Should we be getting ready to go to Pandaria?"

"I'm already working on that. All you have to do is get on board."

"And in the meantime, what would you like me to do?"

Sylvanas shrugged, "I don't know, Faith. I just… I don't know." She looked at her, "How did you deal with it?"

"With you being dead? I didn't. Sometimes, I would wake up, and just for a second, I would think that everything was okay, that you were alive and that it had all been a very bad dream. Then I'd open my eyes and the smell would hit me, and I'd realize that my worst nightmares were actually my reality."

"And I didn't do anything to help you, did I?"

"Sylvanas, of course you did."

"But I wasn't understanding."

"What do you mean?"

"You were crying all the time. I was frustrated with it, and I know you could tell. I just… I didn't know. I figured that it had happened to me, not to you, so you needed to get over it. I guess I wouldn't have acted that way when I was alive."

Faith sat on Sylvanas' bed and drew the queen to her, "Listen to me, and listen to me carefully. A lot changed. You died, and both our worlds ended once. That changed who we were as people, you most of all, because you were dead and raised. Now, our roles are reversed. I'm the one who was killed and now I'm living as an undead. And you get to feel what I felt when I came back to you and saw what you had become."

"A terrifying dead thing," muttered Sylvanas.

"The love of my life," said Faith. "The only reason I kept myself alive was because of you. I might have died of grief had you not been there for me."

"Why didn't you ever tell me that?"

"Because I knew you didn't want to hear it. You loved me, but there were some things that you would have still found pathetic. This was one of them."

Sylvanas put a hand on her face, "I think I understand now… I'm sorry for not being more supportive."

"You were supportive. You were there for me, which was what I needed. And I'll be there for you now, even when I'm in Pandaria. I still can't believe that place is real."

Welcoming the change of subject, Sylvanas moved away from Faith, "I guess it was hidden from us for a reason."

"And now we're going to take our war with the Alliance to them. Does that seem fair to you?"

"Do you still have feelings for the Alliance? Did you not hear what Jaina nearly did to Orgrimmar?"

Faith blinked, "You didn't see what we did to Theramore, Sylvanas. Jaina destroying Orgrimmar would have just been justice to her. I can't blame her for thinking that. When Arthas destroyed Quel'Thalas, one of the only things I could think of was revenge. And while we're on the topic of revenge, Sylvanas."

Sylvanas looked at her, "What about it?"

"You're going to want to go after Garrosh."

"I haven't decided yet."

Faith chuckled darkly, "Yes you have, I can see it in your eyes. You're grieving, but there's fury beneath the grief. You're going to want to go after him, and you're planning on killing the Kor'kron guards around here first."

"I'm entitled to revenge," said Sylvanas, wondering how Faith had read her mind so accurately.

"Yes, but not like that. An unprovoked attack on the guards would lead to civil war, and we really don't need that right now."

"Even now you have to be the voice of reason. You're supposed to be angry too."

Faith smiled, "I am, and you know that I am. I just do what you do."

"Which is?"

"I don't let my anger rule my actions."

Sylvanas stared at her as if she'd grown an extra head, "Since when do I do that?"

"All right, you try not to when I'm around you."

"Because you keep me anchored. But now you're going to Pandaria, and how am I supposed to not do anything about this while you're gone?"

"The same way I didn't go charging in against Arthas at all hours of the day, Sylvanas. And let me tell you, even with the fact that I killed him… it didn't make things better."

A nod, "I know. You told me all you felt was sadness when he died."

"That's right. I had no real comfort in killing him. And besides, we couldn't leave the Scourge without a leader, so it was almost for nothing."

Sylvanas closed her eyes and shook her head a little, "One problem at a time, love, please."

The two of them stayed physically close together as they made the final preparations to go to Pandaria. Velonara would be coming with them, and would stay with Faith throughout the entire campaign, if that was possible. Rotvine wanted to go as well, but Sylvanas decided to keep him in Undercity.

"Maybe when I come back, you'll be able to go, but I'm not about to leave the city without a leader."

"Nathanos could lead perfectly fine in our absence, you know," said Rotvine reasonably.

Sylvanas winced. Now that Faith was dead, she had noticed that Nathanos appeared a lot more attentive towards her, often looking at her in the adoring way he had when they had both been alive.

"I suppose he feels that you're fair game now," Faith told her. "When I was alive, I had something he didn't have. Now, we're all dead, so it evens out the playing field."

"No it doesn't. You're my lover, nobody else. You're dead now, which actually makes it more of a fact than before."

"Except that we're not technically lovers right now."

"We can change that immediately."

"Greedy," Faith told her. "I'm still not ready for that, though, sorry."

"Can't blame a girl for trying."

Finally, they were ready to leave. Three new Forsaken ships, completely outfitted with supplies and weapons had been commissioned to reinforce the fleet that would be going to Pandaria. Faith and Sylvanas took their place on the newest ship, which was also the biggest. Sylvanas had baptized it  _The Everstone,_ and Faith was still at a loss over that.

It was a huge ship with three main decks, its windows made of violet stained glass depicting sceneries of Quel'Thalas. The royal cabin was spacious, maybe a little  _too_  spacious for two Forsaken, but Sylvanas had wanted it that way so that the two of them would be close together without getting in each other's way.

Both of them had taken a potion, but Faith really didn't feel ready to be with Sylvanas that way. It was too soon. She couldn't pinpoint why she felt the way she did, maybe because of the changes she'd been through. It was almost like when they'd been in Southern Quel'Thalas, dancing around each other without ever being together.

Almost. Because sometimes, out of the blue, Sylvanas would kiss her. She would force herself not to take it too far, but because of whatever they'd taken, they felt it more, and heat naturally rose between them.

"It's like death did nothing to change my feelings…" she told Velonara on the third day of their journey.

"It didn't, not really. You died loving her, and when Sylvanas raised you, your feelings were still there. If I could see my husband again, I'd… I don't really know what I would do, but I understand the impulse you and Sylvanas still have to be with each other. I mean, think about the way ghosts behave."

"Ghosts?" asked Faith, her eyes widening.

"Sure. I don't mean the Scourged undead, I mean the ghosts who just return and haunt the last place they were when they were alive, or haunt their families. Even Taegan."

"Taegan. Bringing up my shade brother isn't going to help me see things more clearly."

"It should. He was completely changed by the Scourge, and yet he still came to you and was loyal to you. In essence, he still loves you. For some ghosts, it's the same thing. They haunt the people they loved in life because they don't know what else to do. It's a behavior ingrained into their very soul. The same goes for the love you share with Sylvanas."

"You're saying that nothing will change the way she and I feel towards each other? Doesn't that seem a little… unreal?"

"Two decades ago I would have told you that raising a body from the dead was impossible because it went against nature. I know better now. Why wouldn't the love you share with Sylvanas be eternal?"

"Velonara."

She held up her hands, "Isn't it something that you want to think? That despite all the horrible things that happened to you, you can still love each other as you did the first day you realized it was love?"

The first day she realized it was love. Faith remembered that day well, although she hadn't known much about love then. She had known, at the tender age of twelve, that she never wanted to be separated from Sylvanas again. That she wanted to be with her and make sure she was always all right. That she was cared for and happy.

"And you're saying that this is what's happening between Sylvanas and I?"

"Why not? I didn't think the dead could love, Faith. But Sylvanas,  _Sylvanas_  proves that it's possible. She might have been misguided when she decided to raise you, but she really did do it out of love."

Faith nodded. She'd heard this so many times in the weeks since she'd turned into an undead that she believed it now. Sylvanas' behavior was more convincing in that regard, when she thought about it. Her interactions with other newly-raised Forsaken were nothing like what she had experienced. Sure, she was more caring towards them, but after a few days, she already expected them to get over everything and start functioning normally.

A short while later, she went back to her cabin, finding Sylvanas there, studying a map of Pandaria. She looked up when Faith entered, before looking at the map again. But she pushed her seat away from the desk, inviting Faith to sit on her lap if she so wished.

Faith took the invitation, sitting on Sylvanas' lap and leaning companionably against her. She still felt awkward, unused to Sylvanas not feeling cold against her own skin, but it was something she felt herself growing accustomed to.

"We should be landing around here," said Sylvanas, pointing to a coast of an area called the Jade Forest.

"That's a pretty name," murmured Faith.

Sylvanas nodded, "Indeed. Although I'm afraid that the name will be the only pretty thing about this place after we're through with it."

"You didn't bring the Blight with you, did you?" asked Faith, alarmed.

"No. I didn't even think about it, to be honest."

"Thank you. I really would have gotten upset with you then."

"I definitely don't want you upset." She gently kissed Faith's cheek, "Is there anything you want us to talk about before we get there?"

Faith shook her head, "I think you've answered most of my questions regarding everything."

"Are you sure? We have time."

"I can't think of anything to ask you right now," whispered Faith.

Sylvanas pressed her cheek against Faith's, closing her eyes. Faith took her hand, gently rubbing their fingers together. She didn't feel it the way she had when she'd been alive, but it was close enough, and it sent a fine shudder down her spine.

"Mm, I felt that," murmured Sylvanas.

"I know you did," said Faith in a low voice. "Is it like that for you? When I touch you and you… need me?"

"Yes. And you've never made me wait before. It's like it was before we ever kissed. I always felt this constant need when I was around you that I couldn't fulfill. It used to drive me outside my mind. You have no idea how many times I pleasured myself thinking about you."

Stunned, Faith turned her head to stare at her, "By the Light, Sylvanas…"

"Did I never tell you that before?"

"No!"

She chuckled, "Look at you, all scandalized. You did the same thing, admit it."

"I… we… maybe… It was a long time ago."

"Not that long ago. What did you think about when you were alone with yourself?"

"How is this going to help you feel less needy?" demanded Faith.

"It won't. But I'll need something to sustain me while you're gone."

"Well, stop that. My telling you what I thought about is only going to get you hot and bothered, and… Sylvanas, your hand."

Sylvanas pouted, "I'm really not used to you denying me."

Faith moved Sylvanas' hand from her inner thigh back to her knee, "The more you try, the less inclined I'm going to be to sleep with you again."

"Oh, that's a solid bunch of crap, Faith, and you know it."

"But it came from my loving unbeating heart." Kissing her briefly, Faith got to her feet, but Sylvanas yanked her back down, giving her the kind of kiss that would have generally made her gasp for breath. "What the heck was that for?" she asked when Sylvanas pulled away from her.

"I won't sleep with you again until you're ready for it, but I will kiss you any time I want. Get used to it."

"Used to it…" whispered Faith, feeling like the blood within her should have been boiling, "You don't usually kiss me like that out of nowhere, you know."

"It's high time I started."

Faith could only stare at her, speechless, unable to believe that one good thing had come from her death.

The rest of the trip passed in the same uneventful way. They crossed no other ships, even when they sailed relatively close to Alliance waters near Elwynn Forest, although Sylvanas was careful to stay in neutral territory. There was a rough patch of weather when they reached Booty Bay, but that actually worked to their advantage, because the winds were at their back, thus allowing them to go marginally faster thanks to a bit of magic.

They reached the coast of Pandaria exactly two weeks after leaving Undercity, and even from a distance, Faith realized that it was a beautiful place they were coming to. She wondered what awaited her there.


	37. Chapter 37

As they got closer to the coast, the scent of greenery mixed itself with the smell of the ocean. It was faint, but it still reminded Faith of several afternoons spent at the beach near Windrunner Spire with Sylvanas and her family. If she closed her eyes, she could almost see Sylvanas in the surf, water dripping off her muscled body, making it glisten in the sun.

"What could you possibly be thinking about?" Sylvanas asked her, walking up to her.

"Memories of times past," whispered Faith.

"So, me."

"It doesn't always have to be about you. I could be thinking about my brothers, my sister's wedding, or my parents."

"Were you?"

"No."

Sylvanas smirked, "You may be dead, but there's no mistaking that look on your face."

"What look?"

"You'd be blushing if you could. Your cheeks would be warm, but your hands would be cold. You would tremble if I were to run my finger down your spine. And if I let you, you would devour me right here, right now."

Faith blinked once, "I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Is that a quiver I hear in your voice?" Sylvanas put a hand on Faith's lower back, "You want me."

"Now you're being cocky."

"You don't have a lot of time to ravage me before I leave, Faith. So if you want us to make love, I suggest you tell me now."

"I don't want to… is that all you think about?"

"Lately? Yes. And I know you have as well."

Faith didn't get a chance to answer as an Alliance ship came into view.

"Everybody to your stations!" cried Sylvanas as the other Forsaken ships rang out with the same order. Faith started performing a cloaking spell, although it was impossible that the Alliance ship hadn't seen them. She heard the distinctive sound of canon fire and stared.

"They're not firing at us, Sylvanas," she said, pointing to the water. "Look."

Sylvanas' gaze raked the waterline, seeing that Faith was right. The Alliance ship was firing at something in the water. People.

"Orcs," she hissed. Turning her head, she ordered a return of fire. Cannon balls began to fire from their ship, towards the Alliance vessel. Despite how far they were, Faith distinctly saw one of their cannonballs rip through the mast of the blue and golden ship. A good shot.

"We've got to help them out," said Faith.

"What happened to not helping the orcs ever again?" asked Sylvanas, already signaling for them to move closer to the soldiers in the water. Blood had already stained the sea red, attracting aquatic predators, but a few of them still appeared to be alive. As they watched, a female orc cried out, pulling out a blue-tinged blade and attacking a shark that was trying to eat her.

Faith murmured a spell, and her hand glowed icy-white suddenly. Moments later, the water around the orc began to freeze over, allowing her to climb on it to escape the shark. Below her, the predator froze, dying instantly. The orc raised her weapon in thanks. Looking at her eyes, Faith realized she was a death knight.

Faith raised her hand again, creating a path on the water for the death knight to get to the ship while other mages did the same for the remaining survivors. The Alliance ship fired one final shot and stopped.

"Since when does the Alliance kill arbitrarily?" asked Sylvanas.

"Since we destroyed Theramore, I would guess," answered Faith. She walked towards the edge of the ship, holding down a hand for the death knight to grab. "Welcome to  _The Everstone_ , death knight," she said. "Are you all right?"

"I've been in worse positions before," she said quietly, her voice like the creaking of a crypt door. "Thank you for your help. My name is Garia. Garia Gorecarver."

"That's quite a name," Sylvanas told her, nodding. "What happened?"

"The Alliance sank our ship," said Garia as other survivors began to climb onboard. "We were making our way to shore when they fired on us. That's when you came in."

"They fired on you without warning? It wasn't in retaliation for anything?"

"We're at war, so I suppose that was it."

Sylvanas rolled her eyes, "Other than that."

"We engaged an Alliance ship before docking, but I can't be sure it was the same ship."

Faith shook her head, "That doesn't warrant them shooting at you after sinking your ship." She went to help some of the other survivors, most of which were badly injured. A young brown-skinned orc had lost a leg and was clearly trying not to scream at the sight of the mangled stump that jutted from his hip. A Forsaken priest was slowly healing him so that he wouldn't bleed to death, but it was obvious that he would never fight again.

"What am I supposed to do with my life now?" he asked. "All I know is fighting."

Faith knelt next to him, "You could learn a trade. Maybe you could make armor or weapons for soldiers, or be a recruiter. Once you're healed, we'll send you back to Orgrimmar so that you can be fitted with a prosthetic. You'll see, there will be plenty of things for you to do."

"But it won't be the same."

"Of course not. But you can still lead a good life and be useful to countless people." She squeezed his shoulder before standing straight again and moving to another orc. This one was in much worse condition. The troll druid who was with him was desperately trying to staunch the flow of blood from an abdominal wound. How he had made it to the ship was a complete mystery. As Faith approached, he reached out to her.

"I don't w-want to d-die…" he gasped.

Faith took his hand, "You're going to be just fine, you'll see. You fought well, a true hero of the Horde, soldier."

The soldier's body went limp suddenly, and Faith closed her eyes, shaking her head.

"You can stop now," she told the druid. "He's gone."

The druid sighed, shaking his head, "I tried…" he said sadly.

"I know you did. Sometimes, people can't be saved, and it's okay."

"You're not angry?"

"I am, but not with you. Keep working, druid, you're doing fine."

She joined Sylvanas, who had moved to the other end of the deck. They were almost at a makeshift dock that would serve its purpose. Faith recognized crude orcish workmanship, which told her that more of Garrosh's forces had already landed.

"According to some soldiers, half a dozen ships were able to disembark soldiers before the Alliance attacked. Apparently they're spread around this stretch of land."

"What about the Alliance?"

"They're on the other side of the beach. The ship here was just patrolling the area." She pointed to a mast sticking out of the water. Even from a distance, both of them could see the tattered blue sails that indicated that it had been an Alliance craft.

"What are your orders?"

Sylvanas glanced at her, arching an eyebrow, "You know my orders."

Faith nodded, leaving Sylvanas' side and readying a party for landing. To her surprise, Garia joined her.

"Most of my crew is gone. It'll be best for me to join up with the others, wherever they are."

"I'll be happy to have you with us, Garia," said Faith, shaking her hand.

Garia nodded, going to join the Forsaken soldiers who were getting ready to disembark.

"All right, everyone!" cried Sylvanas. "I want you to hurry up and get off the ship fast! We have supplies to bring ashore and we have to make way for the others, so move it!"

Nobody needed to be told twice. The foot soldiers got off the ship first, each of them carrying various bags of weapons and ammunition. Next came the mages, who were levitating heavier crates that carried clothes and other goods from Silvermoon. Finally, bringing up the rear was the cavalry. Sylvanas rode first on Venom while Faith rode a new steed she had called Winter. The beast, a horse that had only recently been raised, was, by skeletal standards, a magnificent creature of pure white bone. Already, he showed loyalty to his new mistress and snarled at anybody who came near her, even Sylvanas.

"Maybe I should have gotten you a better horse," said Sylvanas, glancing at the pair of them.

"No, Winter's great. I mean, he's not Lady, and he's certainly not Prince, but I'm sure he and I will become great friends." He voice trailed off a little as she thought of how upset Lady had been when Liadrin had come to take her back to Quel'Thalas. She had screamed and kicked and very nearly crippled the stable attendant who had come with the Sin'dorei paladin. Only Sylvanas had been able to intervene and calm her down.

Sylvanas kept her eye on her, wondering whether she shouldn't stay with her. Faith was still feeling a little fragile, which was usual in her situation, although she wouldn't have admitted it to anybody. Wordlessly, she extended a hand to her, and Faith glanced at her before sliding Winter closer to Venom and briefly grasping her gloved fingers.

They moved quietly through the woods that looked so different from the ones they were used to. Faith had read about the plants she was looking at, but had never seen them in person before. Bamboo as tall as ancient fir trees covered the landscape, their leafy canopies filtering the sunlight so that everything looked green. Small snakes and insects moved away from them as they approached, clearly unused to seeing undead walking around.

"It's beautiful here," said Faith, catching sight of what appeared to be a shrine in a small clearing. She noted the exquisite workmanship of the shrine, even from a distance.

"It may not be so beautiful when Garrosh is done with it," said Sylvanas.

"And that doesn't bother you?"

"It would have done, once upon a time. But those days are long gone, my darling."

"Well, it bothers me. I don't think that we should let him destroy a world just because he wants to control it."

Sylvanas smiled a little, "I love that you still feel that way. I was afraid that you would rain down fire and brimstone on the world now."

Faith looked at her, momentarily surprised. "I want to. I feel angrier than I did before. But there's a big part of me that doesn't want to lay the world to waste. I don't want to be known as a killer, Sylvanas."

"Well, you're a killer in general, baby. So am I, so's everyone. But you don't kill arbitrarily. You think before you take a life, which is both good and bad. Good because you know what you're doing, bad because you tend to mull over each kill. Or at least you did. I don't know what it'll be like for you now."

"What was it like for you?"

"Arthas had tortured me so much… all I wanted was to make others suffer as much as I had. Please tell me I didn't do the same thing to you."

"I just told you that I don't want to lay the world to waste," said Faith quietly. "Besides, you didn't torture me."

"What would you call what I did to you?"

"You loved me."

Sylvanas didn't know how to answer that statement, so she didn't, closing her eyes against the tears that unexpectedly threatened to overwhelm her. She cried easily now, in light of what had happened, and it thoroughly unsettled her.

They began to hear sounds that didn't belong to the forest. Sounds of machinery and beastly voices that belonged to orcs. They saw blood staining the grass, and Faith wondered what kind of creature had been killed there. There was a strip of matted brown fur nearby that didn't belong to any of the races she knew.

"Up ahead," said Sylvanas. "Look."

They had reached an area that had been converted into an airbase that had obviously belonged to the Alliance, judging by the burning banners on the ground. As they went further, they saw various members of the Horde gathered here and there, polishing weapons and building crude towers out of wood. People recognized Sylvanas, and soon, everyone knew she was there.

"Lady Sylvanas," said an orc, walking over. Faith recognized him as Nazgrim, whom she'd briefly met while she'd been in Vashj'ir. He was a general now, and looked the part with a huge broadsword strapped to his side and highly polished armor that was only dented in one place. "We didn't know you would be coming."

"I'm not staying," said Sylvanas. "I just came to deliver additional troops and supplies."

"You're a lifesaver," said Nazgrim, his eyes widening at the amount of things they had brought.

"Let's not get carried away. I didn't do this out of the goodness of my heart," Sylvanas told him. "Faith will be staying here to oversee the Forsaken troops remaining behind. She'll be in charge."

Nazgrim nodded, looking at Faith with a mixture of sadness and wariness. "Major Everstone. I was very sorry to hear about what happened to you."

"Thank you, General," said Faith to him. She glanced at the airfield, surprised by how big it was. "How did the Alliance manage to build this in such a short amount of time?"

"They conned locals into building it for them. As far as I know, they were pretty much treating them like slaves, so we freed them. Here are some of them now."

Faith blinked slowly. Pandaren. Creatures that should no longer have been in existence were walking towards them, some of them with black and white fur, others with fur of lighter brown and red colors. They looked cuddly. She leaned towards Sylvanas, "Is it me or do they look soft and adorable?"

Sylvanas snorted, "I looked soft and adorable in life. And I could kill with a flick of my wrist. Don't underestimate them because of their looks."

"Soft and adorable," repeated Faith. "You were soft and adorable?"

"I was adorable! I was golden and beautiful and cuddly."

"You were a lot of things in life, Sylvanas, but cuddly isn't one of them."

"Hey, I cuddled you."

"Sometimes," said Faith, climbing off her mount and facing the Pandaren, who were looking at them with their mouths open.

"You… you are not alive," said one of them.

"Not technically, no," answered Faith. "You've never encountered undead before, have you?"

The pandaren, a male by the looks of him, shook his head. "We have ghosts that haunt some areas, but that's it." He came closer, visibly holding his breath, and Faith murmured a spell to make it easier for him, "How did you do that?" he asked, his eyes widening.

"Do what?"

"You made everything smell like… spices."

Faith smiled, "Magic," she told him. "Is it better?"

"Yes, much. Thank you." He reached out a hand towards her, "May I?"

A nod, "Go ahead."

He gently touched her arm, "Your skin is cold."

"Indeed it is," said Sylvanas, sounding amused now. "At least she  _has_  skin. Most of the other Forsaken aren't so lucky."

The pandaren looked at Sylvanas and backed away, scared now. "Why are you here?"

"You should not bring your war to our shores," said another pandaren, a female this time with patches of dark brown and creamy white fur. "I do not mean to offend you, but the sha have already come forth… we do not want our land destroyed because of you."

"The sha?" asked Faith.

"Manifestations of the old god Y'shaarj. They appeared when he was slain by the titans," said the female. "We have not seen them for a long time, but when your people came, they arrived suddenly. You must leave. Your emotions will make things worse for all of us."

Faith closed her eyes, "Yet something else I thought was a myth," she said.

"You've heard of them?" asked Sylvanas.

"I read about them not too long ago. I've had time on my hands, since I no longer sleep. There's a book in our library that alludes to malevolent spirits that came forth when this particular old gold was slain. They have several manifestations that are linked to anger, hatred, despair, doubt, pride, fear and violence."

"I'll have to find it," said Sylvanas. "So, because of this, we should leave?"

"You do not understand," said the first pandaren. "The sha have already taken over some of you. Your general here already felt their effects."

Faith turned towards Nazgrim, "Is this true?"

Nazgrim gave a nod, "It is. I felt like everything bad I felt had been multiplied tenfold. I didn't care suddenly what happened to anybody. I wanted to kill  _everything_."

Faith and Sylvanas glanced at each other, "You should go, Sylvanas," said Faith.

"And leave you here? You're newly dead and raised, you're brimming with negativity."

"So are you! I was killed, Sylvanas. Me. I'm dead now. I was the love of your life, and I was killed."

Sylvanas ran a hand over her eyes, "Stop it."

"You  _all_  should go," said the female pandaren. "Please. You cannot remain here!"

Sylvanas turned her red gaze to her, "I appreciate your position, but we have no choice in the matter. We have been ordered here, and here we must stay."

"You would destroy Pandaria with your war?"

Faith shook her head, "We are not here to destroy your home. This is a war, unfortunately, and we have been ordered here by our warchief. I'm afraid that not obeying these orders would have horrible consequences for all of us."

The female looked at Faith, her green eyes wide, "But…"

"I give you my word that I will do everything in my power not to destroy your home. And if something is destroyed, we will help you rebuild it."

Faith's words rang across the airfield, and everyone stared at her as she spoke. The promise was real, its ring unmistakable.

"I know what it's like to have an invading force destroy everything you have ever known. I know what it's like to have everything taken away from me. We all do. And because of that, we will respect your land is if it were our own."

"Are you sure you can keep this promise, Faith?" asked Sylvanas in a low voice.

"I intend to," she said. "Now, you should really go. Please, Sylvanas. You came with us because of me, and I love you for it, but it's time for you to go home."

Sylvanas gave a slow nod, hopping off Venom and going to her, "You be careful, do you understand me? Faith, I mean it." She didn't want to leave her. Everything in her screamed that they should stay together and not be separated again.

"I'm always careful."

"More careful than you were last time."

"I'll do my best, Sylvanas," said Faith.

Sylvanas leaned down and kissed her softly, "I love you."

"I know," said Faith in a gentle voice. She slowly ran her thumb over Sylvanas' bottom lip, "Be safe."

"And you." Feeling wretched, she watched Faith as she created a portal back to Undercity. Stepping through it, she nearly dragged Faith with her.

_I don't want to leave you… not again… my Faith…_


	38. Chapter 38

The moment she arrived in the royal quarter, Sylvanas felt like going back to Pandaria. Back to Faith. She couldn't believe she'd left her there.

"I shouldn't have come back," she told Rotvine, who had been waiting for her. "I should have stayed with her."

"What are you talking about?" he asked, looking at her. She appeared panicked, her eyes wild. "Your Majesty, you need to calm down. Faith has been on campaigns without you before. As a matter of fact, she's spent the majority of your relationship without you."

"Last time she was away from me, she died," said Sylvanas quietly.

"I don't think that happened because she was away from you. It might have happened even if you'd been with her. And what's worse, you could have died too. And as romantic as it sounds to die with your beloved, it would have put us all in a very bad situation."

"I didn't want to leave her."

"Do you ever? When she leaves you or you leave her, are you ever happy about it?"

Sylvanas didn't need to answer that.

Over the next few days, she was distracted, often thinking about Faith and wondering whether she was all right. She'd given her a new hearthstone, and knew that she would return to Undercity immediately if anything happened to her again, but she felt uneasy. The idea of the sha being in Pandaria and using Faith's emotions against her worried her.

She knew that Faith was more than capable of taking care of herself. Now more than ever, she had everything at her disposal to survive. But it was in Sylvanas' nature to worry about Faith.

"Stop thinking about it. Honestly, you would expect her to drop dead at any second," said Rotvine. "She got through Northrend unscathed."

"Only to die at the hands of two assassins," she hissed at him. "And she wasn't unscathed by Northrend, Carrick. Far from it."

He shrugged, "It's all relative. You need to believe in her. Trust her to get through things on her own. She'll come to you when she needs you, she always has."

Sylvanas closed her eyes, trying to picture her beloved surrounded by the strange pandaren in this green land that teemed with dangerous life. Was she all right? What was she doing at that very moment? Focusing, she reached out towards her, despite their connection being a little frayed due to the distance between them. Gently, her mind touched Faith's consciousness, and she felt Faith give a small start of surprise.

"Sylvanas," she whispered.

"What about Sylvanas?" asked Garia, who was with Faith at the time.

"She's thinking about me."

"How can you be sure about that?"

Faith smiled a little, "When she raised me, she left part of herself within me, or at least it feels that way. I can feel her in my mind when she focuses on me."

"In your mind or somewhere else?" wondered Garia with a smirk.

Faith glared at her, "Don't be ridiculous."

"Don't think I didn't notice the tension between the two of you when she left. You didn't want her to go."

"I didn't want her to stay here." She shook her head. For days, she had felt horribly sad, missing her queen and wanting to be with her. She found herself wanting to cry all the time, and found it difficult to focus on the tasks at hand, which were numerous.

They couldn't stay on the airfield. Despite the fact that they had secured it, it was too exposed. They were under constant attacks by strange monkey creatures they had no name for, but who were obviously very hostile to them.

"They're called Hozen," said one of the pandaren who had been at the airfield when Faith and the others had arrived. Her name, Faith had found out, was Emi Songcloud, and she was a mage, much to her surprise.

"Hozen," said Faith. "All right. What do they want?"

"To be left alone, I expect. I don't really know. They are in constant battle with another species that we call the Jinyu, and who are as different from them as can be. For one thing, they look like giant fish on legs."

Faith blinked at her, "What is it with everyone being in conflict with everyone else?" she asked.

"You are one to talk," said Emi. "You have brought your war to us. Why didn't you just stay in your home?"

"My home?" asked Faith. "Let me tell you about my  _home_ , Emi." Sitting down where she was, she began to speak. She spoke of Quel'Thalas as it had been, she spoke of the invasion of the Burning Legion and the orcs, and finally, she spoke about the Scourge. When she mentioned Sylvanas, such a strong feeling of despair came over her that, for a moment, she looked at her spellblade, wondering what it would feel like if she were to plunge it into her own body, where her heart had used to beat.

_Faith! Don't! What are you thinking?_

Sylvanas' voice came clearly to her. And with it came memories of sunshine and Sylvanas' golden hair. Far from making her feel better, it caused her to give a wail of sorrow and collapse, curling up into a ball, shaking.

Emi moved away from her quickly. "Sha!" she screamed.

Faith wanted to die. To truly die and plunge herself into darkness. She cared not for her soul.

_Faith! Snap out of it! Remember that I'm still here, sweetheart, I love you, you know I love you! And you love me too! Don't lose yourself to despair, my darling!_

Faith felt herself drifting away. Around her, she heard people, Forsaken, tell her that they were with her, that they wouldn't abandon her. She heard Sylvanas speaking to her as well, but the words were muted.

And suddenly, a strong voice, "Take her to Honeydew Village. Put her on her horse, and get her there as quickly as you can. Now, before she succumbs."

Darkness came over her, but it didn't stay long. Even from far away, she could hear Sylvanas calling to her, forcing her to stay awake.

"Good," said someone with a deep voice. "Focus on her. Focus on that person, Major."

A furry paw wiped her brow. Was she sweating? Could she sweat now that she was dead?

She opened her eyes, a strange sound ripped out of her throat.

"Be calm, child. The sha is gone."

Faith tried to breathe before remembering that she couldn't. She sat up slowly, "What happened?"

"The sha happened. One of the spirits, I felt it was despair, clung to your emotions and fed on them, rendering you very vulnerable. Had that voice not spoken to you, I think that you might have been lost."

"Lost?" asked Faith. She felt as though Sylvanas were physically with her, holding her.

"The sha sometimes consume their victims so thoroughly that it's impossible for us to bring them back. We've seen it happening, and this spirit was very close to consuming you completely."

"It was so fast… Nobody said that these sha worked so fast."

"Well, now you know." The pandaren who had spoken came closer to her, fully revealing himself. He seemed tall for a pandaren, and wore a hat with a scarf around his face. "My name is Taran-Zhu," he said. "You are lucky that your people care so much about you. Whose voice was it that spoke to you?"

"You heard it?" wondered Faith. She had heard of this pandaren since her arrival, and knew that he was the leader of the Shado-Pan, a faction of pandaren warriors tasked with the protection of Pandaria.

"I did. She seemed cold, like you. But she cares for you."

Faith nodded, "That was Banshee Queen Sylvanas Windrunner. Former Ranger-General of Quel'Thalas and my… lover."

"Lover," repeated Taran-Zhu. "Two females. Unusual."

"I suppose it's unusual, but one can't help who one falls in love with."

"That is true. Well, it was lucky that she managed to reach you. You should rest here a few days, then make your way to the Temple of the Jade Serpent. I believe that there are people there who could help you with what you are feeling. I was told that you were recently… killed?"

Faith nodded, "More unusual circumstances."

"And unheard of here," he said. "We have never seen the walking dead before, although we have heard of them."

"The walking dead, is that what people are calling us?"

"It is a fitting name, I think."

"Yes, I suppose it is."

Taran-Zhu helped Faith to her feet, leading her towards a comfortable-looking couch that seemed more like an enormous throw pillow than anything else. "Why are you here? Can you tell me that?"

"The short version is that we're at war with the Alliance. Our warchief, Garrosh Hellscream, has vowed to kill as many of them as we can, and has ordered us to chase them everywhere on Azeroth."

"So that is what you are doing. Chasing your enemies."

"Me personally? I'm here because I've been ordered to be. Believe me, if I had my way, I'd be back in Undercity with Sylvanas, not here trying to fight off manifestations of a long-deceased Old God."

"And what makes you follow these orders?"

Faith looked around to make sure that no orc was nearby, pitching her voice low, "The fact that our warchief is the one who ordered me killed, and if I disobey him again, it won't be my life at stake, but Sylvanas'."

"So you follow this warchief blindly because you're afraid he will kill the one you love."

"I don't follow him blindly. But I do follow his orders, so to speak. The Forsaken have been ordered here, and I'm here as their commanding officer."

"And what will be left of our land once you are finished with it?"

"Hopefully all of it. Look, all I know is that our Horde ships were chasing the Alliance, and they all arrived here. I didn't personally come here to rip Pandaria apart. In fact, I would like to avoid that as much as possible. But I can't leave."

The pandaren sighed, looking at Faith, "I see that there is a lot still troubling you. Death did not rid you of your worries, quite the contrary. You are conflicted."

"I'm against this war. Anybody who knows me will tell you that I've never agreed with the war against the Alliance."

"Is that why your warchief had you killed?"

Faith made an odd gesture between a shrug and a nod. "Let's just say that for my part, I want to see what's going on before I officially take a side. Although as far as Garrosh is concerned, I'm with the Horde. But I also promised Emi Songcloud that I wouldn't destroy your land, and that's a promise I intend to keep."

"I believe you really mean that," he said after a while. He gave a sigh, "All right, Faith Everstone. I do not want your war on my shores, but since it seems to have arrived, I will not stand in your way. But if I see that your people begin harming our land in any way, the Shado-Pan will step in, and trust me when I say that you do not want us as your enemy."

Faith nodded, "Understood."

"As for you personally… there are people who can help you, should you choose to seek them out. They are at the Shado-Pan Monastery in Kun-Lai Summit."

"Help me?" asked Faith.

"Yes. You cannot remain here if your negative emotions are so strong. The sha will, literally, eat you alive."

Faith nodded, "I can take it."

"You could not a few minutes ago. This is not a reflection of how strong you are. Everybody understands that emotions can get the best of everyone sometimes. But the people of the Shado-Pan Monastery will help you control these emotions. It might take some time, but you will see, it will be beneficial to you in the end."

"They're going to help me get rid of all of my emotions?" she asked, a little worried about what that would mean.

"No. They will help you control your negative emotions and help you focus on the positive ones."

"I guess that can't hurt," she said quietly.

"It might even be good for you," Taran-Zhu told her, amused.

"It might," she agreed. "But before I can do that, I need to figure out what we can do about these Hosen. There's too many of them, so fighting them really won't do."

"So, what do you think you should do about them?"

"Work with them. Who knows, they might prove helpful to the Horde." She tried getting to her feet, but Taran-Zhu immediately pulled her back down. "You need to rest, at least one day. A sha attack is nothing to be trifled with. I understand that you are not technically a living creature, but do you not rest?"

"Not the way I used to. I don't really know how that works, really. Since I don't eat and I don't sleep, I don't really have a way to replenish my energy. And yet I don't feel tired, even after this attack. Just a little… worried, I guess I could say."

"Well, try taking some time for yourself. Maybe walk around the village a little."

Faith looked out the window, "It is very pretty here. I've only seen a small part of your home, and it looks beautiful. Serene."

"Oh, it is. I do not know how much serenity will be left, now that your people are here, but as for beauty, let me modestly say that we know how to make pretty things."

He was right. Faith spent the rest of the day at Honeydew Village, which was small, but beautifully built. Her dulled sense of smell caught the scent of food that she knew would have made her mouth water had she still been alive. Roasted fish prepared with creamy sauces, juicy fruits, vegetables, and delicately perfumed rice, the dishes even looked pleasing to the eye.

"Can you taste anything?" asked the owner of a food stand.

"Not really," said Faith. "I know that some Forsaken have tried, but food and drink tastes like ash to them, so I can only assume that it would be the same for me. We don't have a working digestive system anyway."

"That is too bad," said the pandaren. "Our food is delicious."

"Yes, it certainly looks delicious. And you're actually giving me an idea. What do the Hozen eat?"

"The Hozen?" wondered the pandaren. "Fish. Raw fish."

Raw fish. "That's great. Thank you."

Several Forsaken had followed Faith to Honeydew Village, along with Garia. She went to them, explaining the idea she had. "We can't fight an army of these creatures," she told them. "We don't have the manpower for that, and it would make them hate us more. So we ought to work to gain their trust and make some kind of an alliance with them."

"And how do you propose we do this, Major?"

"Food."

"You want us to bring them food?" asked Garia, raising her eyebrows. "We're dead, we don't feed people."

"Yes we do. Even Undercity has Forsaken cooks. They don't always make things fit for living consumption, but their cockroach stew is apparently better than the rations the orcs get from Orgrimmar."

"Their  _what_? That sounds disgusting, even to me!"

Faith chuckled, "I have to admit that I never tasted it because it sounded disgusting to me too. One of the advantages of being a mage is that I'm able to conjure food and drink for people, so I was lucky – I never had to eat anything like that."

Garia shuddered, "I think I would have starved before eating cockroaches. I may be an orc, but even I wouldn't eat that."

"It's protein," giggled Faith. "It can't be all that bad for you." She grew serious again, "In any case, yes, I think that we should bring the Hozen food. They apparently like raw fish, so that shouldn't be too difficult to obtain, considering the fact that we're on the shore."

"You think that just bringing them food will help?"

"It certainly can't hurt. But I know where you're going with this. We don't want to appear weak in front of them, and bringing them food out of the blue might make them think that we're surrendering."

They started walking around the village, asking the pandaren there whether there was any way they could think of to gain the hozen's respect.

"The Hozen respect skilled warriors. If you manage to beat their chief and his pet tiger, they will certainly respect you," said Emi, who had come to the village with her friend Thao. "And I do not mean that the chief has to surrender."

"You mean that we have to kill him," said Garia. She turned to Faith, "What do you think? Could we do that? I could take care of the tiger, and you'll take care of the chief?"

"No," said Thao. "It will not work that way. Only one of you can fight."

"One against two?" asked Garia.

Faith was smiling, "I've fought in worse conditions, believe me."

It took a few hours for them to figure out where the chief of the Hozen was located, and as it turned out, this was just one particular tribe that they were dealing with in the Jade Forest. According to the pandaren, there were many more on the continent.

"I don't think that we'll be able to do this with every Hozen tribe in Pandaria," said Nazgrim to her once they had all regrouped. "Be careful, or Sylvanas will have my head on a spike."

"She'll boil you alive first, I think." Faith winked, "Don't worry, I'll be fine. And I don't expect to have to do this everywhere, but we need to do something about this particular tribe who seems intent on keeping us exactly where we are. Once we've dealt with them, we might be able to figure something out with the others."

"Will you be going alone?"

She nodded. She didn't want anybody with her in case that person was attacked. Changing into a tunic and leggings worn with knee-high leather boots, she strapped her spellblade to her waist and began making her way towards the area. She followed a stone path that led to a couple of shrines that, while small, had been artfully crafted. From her vantage point, she saw an area where several hundred hosen were gathered around an enormous pit that held a large member of their tribe, decked out in what appeared to be jewelry. Next to him was his tiger, equally large.

"I might as well get this over with," she said to herself.

Feeling like she was walking into an ambush, Faith moved away from the stone path and in view of the village. The hozen saw her and began chattering menacingly in their strange language that, from what she could tell, was composed of several languages meshed together. She caught a few words of Common and Orcish in the mix, which surprised her, as the Horde and the Alliance hadn't been on Pandaria that long.

"I am here to challenge your chief!" she said, grabbing her blade and raising it.

Evidently, they understood her, for they moved aside so that she could pass, while someone else led her straight to the pit where the huge hozen was waiting for her.

He was over eight feet tall, and quite wide, reminding her of a large spider who had swallowed a lot of juicy flies. He looked at her and began to laugh, saying something to his people. Catching only a few words of his speech, Faith surmised that he was hoping to make short work of her.

She waited for him to get to her feet before she struck, sending a bolt of frost at the tiger, who had been ready to pounce on her. Immediately frozen to the spot, the tiger could do absolutely nothing, which allowed Faith to murmur an arcane spell that surrounded the monkey chief. The chief tried stepping over the spell, but a loud buzzing and the strong smell of singed hairs indicated that the spell was a harmful one. Little by little, it tightened around him and he gave a shrill cry, like that of a child.

The tiger freed itself from Faith's frozen spell, and pounced on her. But she'd been ready for it, and swung her blade, which connected with its underbelly. Blood flew, splattering her face and hair. The animal roared in pain and fell to the ground like a limp sack of grain, not getting up again.

"Noooo!" cried the hozen chief. He walked through Faith's arcane spell, patches of fur actually falling off him as he did so. The other hozen watching were chattering madly, spears raised in defiance.

"Call your hozen off of my people," said Faith. "I've already killed your tiger," she pointed to his pet's carcass on the ground. "I don't need to kill you too."

But the chief was enraged by what she had done. He charged her, and Faith could only roll away before he barreled into her.

"All right," she told him. "If that's the way you want it, we'll fight." She raised her hand, casting a spell so that the pit was suddenly surrounded by bright red fire. The creatures around them screamed and backed away, their fists clenched at their sides. The chief came at her again, but this time, she shot three small arcane bursts at him, each of them hitting him in the chest. He stopped in his tracks, looking down at the spot. His eyes widened in pain. Suddenly, he screamed, swinging one long arm and catching Faith's side.

Literally swept off her feet, she hit the side of the pit with a force that numbed her for a moment. She couldn't move as the hozen chief lumbered toward her, slowed by the spells that had hit him. Bending down, he picked up a bamboo shoot the size of a small tree to use against her. She crawled away as he hurled the branch at her, hearing it splinter an inch away from where she had been.

She got up and cast a spell, but he avoided it, stepping aside and swinging his fist at her. Faith quickly thrust her blade into the air, jabbing its point into the palm of his hand. He screamed, wrenching his arm away just as Faith yanked the sword out of his flesh. Both movements combined tore a gaping hole in his hand, blood spurting out of the wound.

The chief bellowed again, and came charging at her, furious now. Faith barely had time to react, and might have managed it had she not had years of experience. She called out a spell, and her blade began to glow a vivid white, tinged with violet fire. The fire hissed out of the blade, hitting the hozen chief like lightning just as she swung her weapon. There was a flash of arcane light, blinding everyone around.

By the time the hozen were able to see again, their chief lay dead in the pit, with Faith standing on top of him, her blade raised.


	39. Chapter 39

**Author's Note**  – I've noticed that the Windrunner lore has been updated, for anybody who currently plays Legion and has researched the Thas'dorah weapon for MM hunters. Obviously my fic doesn't reflect that, and it won't, as we now have a name for Sylvanas' mother and we know that she used to be Ranger-General before Sylvanas. I think Blizzard has retconned a bit of lore, but never mind. If you want to know more about it, I suggest you go on the WoW-pedia and read up on the weapon – it's a fun bit of lore!

Anyways, I hope you enjoy this part!

* * *

Blood dripped from the spellblade, forming a small puddle on the ground. The hozen stared at her, stunned to see that she had killed their chief. They didn't cry out, didn't raise their fists. They simply looked at her, their beady eyes wide and scared. When she moved, they stepped back, allowing her to walk among them. The younger hozen appeared terrified of her and ran from her, giving little squeals of fright.

She walked out of the village and towards a stream, where she washed the few wounds she had sustained, purely out of habit. She also cleaned her blade before using it to catch a few fish. Putting those in a nearby net, she walked back toward the hozen village and placed the fresh fish on a table.

"This is for you," she said to the creatures who were watching her. "To show you that I do not want war with you."

A smaller hozen, much tinier than the others present, slowly inched closer to the table.

Taking one of the undersized fish she had caught, Faith kneeled and handed it to the small monkey. The hozen looked at her, then at the fish, seemingly unable to decide what to do.

"Go on, take it," she said quietly. "Go on."

Quick as a flash, the hozen took the fish and moved away from her, beginning to eat. Its eyes never left her face.

Finally, she left the hozen village for good, noticing that there were no more of the monkeys around. Some of their pet tigers remained, but obviously they sensed something about her because they kept their distance. As she turned towards the airstrip, however, she was stopped by another creature. A pandaren.

He was a large one, with black and white fur that was impeccably brushed. Faith saw immediately that he was someone of some import in pandaren society, if only judging by the clothes he wore.

"That was a good idea you had of giving them fish after you killed their chief," he told her. "You have caused them to be both terrified and in awe of you."

Faith nodded, "I needed to find a way to get them off our backs."

"Yes, I daresay they will not bother you again."

"But they won't help us, will they? They don't have much of a reason to trust us."

The pandaren shook his head, "Walk with me, and I will explain some things to you."

He turned from her, and she fell into step beside him.

"You don't seem surprised to see an undead elf on your lands," she said quietly.

"I have seen you from afar. I also heard some others talking about you. I was not aware that there were many undead in the other lands on Azeroth."

"Unfortunately, it's a rather common occurrence nowadays." She turned her head toward the pandaren, "My name is Faith. Faith Everstone."

"You may call me Cho. I am a lorewalker."

"A lorewalker?" repeated Faith quizzically.

"A lorewalker is someone who rediscovers the history of our land. I have spent my entire life researching the various bits of lore of Pandaria, from the Mogu to the sha, there is always a lot to learn."

"I believe you. The world is a wide place with a lot of information ripe for the picking. One just needs to know where to find it."

Cho smiled, "That is exactly the way I feel. So, tell me. What have you found out about the hozen so far?"

"They like to fight a lot, and seem immature to me, but that may be because I don't understand them very well. The ones I saw here have a society with a chief at their head. They have their own language, however, they've picked up a lot of words from the Horde and the Alliance, from what I've heard, and I don't know whether it's in their custom to do something like that."

"It is," said Cho. "And your assessment is correct, they are an immature species, for the simple reason that they tend to die quite young. Because of this, they do not have the kind of wisdom other species have. Oh, they have their own, of course, but as far as I have been able to understand, it revolves around poo not being good to eat but being good for throwing at others."

Faith snorted with laughter, "I'm sorry?"

"As you said, they are an immature species."

"Apparently so." She glanced around, noticing that they were moving towards a path she hadn't seen before. Another small shrine appeared to her right behind a fern, and she saw several offerings there of flowers and little objects. "Do you have any idea of how we could become their allies? I don't just want them to be afraid of us."

"Having the hozen as allies is a good idea," said the lorewalker quietly. "But before I do that, I would like to learn a little more about you. After all, I only know that you have brought your war to our lands, which has already awoken the sha around here. And the more your people move into Pandaria, the more sha will awaken."

Faith wanted to apologize again, but she had already done enough of that. After all, it wasn't her fault that Garrosh had sent her here. "What is it that you wish to know?"

"Where you come from, how you became the way you are, whether what happened to you could happen to us, things of that nature."

"It might take a while, so you may want to sit down for this," she told him.

He smiled, "There is a shrine not too far away that will help me see into your past. You need not worry, it will not be invasive to you. Not physically anyway."

What did she have to lose?

They walked for a few more minutes, avoiding prowling tigers until they reached the shrine Cho had spoken of. It wasn't quite what she had anticipated, being small, with carvings etched into low stones.

"What is this place?" she asked.

"The Cairn of Stone," replied the lorewalker. "You see those sticks of incense? If you light them, your history will appear around you."

"My history?" Faith's eyebrows went up at that idea. "How exactly is that going to happen?"

"You are a wielder of magic, are you not? A mage, I heard some of your people call you. So you can believe that some things just happen in unexpected way."

Magical incense sticks. Sylvanas would laugh herself silly. Briefly shaking her head, Faith took several steps until she reached the bowls containing the sticks, and waved her hand once, murmuring softly. Immediately, the sticks ignited, releasing their fragrant smoke, which poignantly reminded Faith of Undercity.

The smoke was thicker than she expected, curling around the entire shrine. Within a few minutes, shapes appeared in the smoke. Elves. Faith hissed as she recognized the people around her. Her parents. Her brothers and sister. Her brother-in-law. Sylvanas' family. And finally, Sylvanas. There were others too. Her cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents and other ancestors she hadn't met but had been told about.

"That's the founder of Everstone Village," she said in a low voice. Her hands were shaking. "It's the village I was born in."

"You have a very big family, Faith," said Cho. "And they are strong too, I can sense that."

She could too. Just being around them reminded her of the gentle strength she had always felt around her brothers.

"Only four of these people are alive now," she told him, walking towards where Vereesa's figure stood with smoke versions of the twins. Next to them stood Alleria with Turalyon and another elf, Arator, Vereesa's son, whom Faith had never actually met. "Everyone else is dead. And I don't mean that they're like myself and Sylvanas. They're actually dead."

Cho looked at her, "That sounds painful."

"It is. And if you want to find out what happened, I will be more than happy to tell you. It's just that it will take a very long time, especially if you want me to be thorough."

"The history of your people is as complex as Pandaria's, and I look forward to learning about it. Now is not the time, though. Not here in the open. However, I thank you for trusting me with this piece of yourself." He walked towards the sticks and doused them with some sand, which effectively stopped them burning. The smoke began to dissipate.

Faith felt disoriented. She hadn't expected to see so many members of her family, and wondered why Sylvanas' family had been there as well.

"Is there a reason why she was there?" she asked the pandaren, indicating Sylvanas' dissipating form. "She's not a member of my family, not technically."

"Not technically?"

"She's my lover, yes, but we're not married."

"For her to show up here, she must be a very intricate part of your life."

"She  _is_  my life." Faith quickly explained what had happened between them over the years, as she and Cho began to walk away from the shrine. "I still love her more than anything, despite everything that's happened."

"Then she is your family. Even if you are not related by blood or marriage. I have learned that sometimes, love is stronger than either of those things."

Faith smiled a little, "I suppose there is a lot of truth in that."

Cho led her down a path, which he called the Path of Enlightenment, and over to a lake which wasn't far from another hozen settlement.

"The hozen go down to the lake down there to fish for what they call 'slickies'." He nodded towards the lake, and Faith noticed several crocolisks basing in its waters. "But sometimes, they get eaten by the crocs down there, as might be the case today. I think that if you were to go there and rescue some of them, the hozen would see you as more than a conqueror."

"That is an excellent idea, Cho. Thank you."

"You are most welcome. If you need to talk to me again, I shall be in the cave over there called the Cave of Words. I will be there for another day or so, after which I will make my way to the Temple of the Jade Serpent."

"I've been told to head that way as well, actually. I was planning on doing that, assuming I can get the Horde settled here."

The lorewalker nodded. "Good. Then I think that our paths will cross again very soon. Good luck, Faith Everstone."

"Thank you, lorewalker," she told him. She watched him go back up the path before she made her way down to the lake. From where she was, she saw a hozen struggling with an enormous crocolisk. It was obvious to her that it was going to lose the fight, so she quickly cast a spell.

What looked like a bolt of ice jetted from her hand, hitting the crocolisk's snout just as its mouth was about to clamp down around the monkey. The hozen, apparently surprised, didn't move for several seconds, but eventually slithered from between the creature's jaws and jumped onto a small island in the middle of the lake.

Faith didn't waste any time. Unsheathing her blade, she leapt into the water, beginning to slay crocs where they were. Some of them regurgitated their meals, hozen, which for the most part were dead, but several others that were miraculously still alive.

_I've never seen that before,_  she told herself, watching the monkeys regain the shore. Some of them appeared absolutely stunned, while others had most of their wits about them, but she couldn't be sure.

It took her another half hour to chase the remaining crocolisks from the lake, by which time the hozen on the island caught up to her. Using a mixture of languages, he ascertained that she had been the one to kill the hozen chief.

He took her hand, making several sounds and pointing to the settlement that was visible through the trees. When he began to lead her towards the area, she didn't resist, hoping that she wasn't walking into a trap.

She needn't have worried. As soon as she entered the hamlet, hozen began to cheer. She didn't understand everything that they were saying, but surmised that they considered her a hero for having saved some of their members.

She was led towards the leader of the village, to a hozen she later found out was called Tooki Tooki. He was smaller than the chief she had killed, and didn't seem to be wearing such extravagant armor.

"You," he said slowly. "You save us." He gestured to his people, "Hozen thought wikket was bad, but wikket help us."

"Wikket?" asked Faith, frowning.

"A not-hozen."

Faith nodded, "Oh. Okay. I was happy to help."

"Wikket welcome with hozen."

At those words, the hozen began to cheer louder than ever, joined by the roar of their pet tigers. Faith waited for everything to die down before she asked the leader whether she could bring the other members of the Horde here. "We could help you against the Jinyu," she said. "I heard that you were at war with them."

Tooki Tooki nodded. "You need go to Grookin Hill. It bigger than this camp. Little hozen will take you."

"Thank you," she told him as one of the hozen she had helped took her hand and led her away.

As it turned out, Grookin Hill was a real village. More than fifty hozen houses were there, and they looked well-tended, with thatched roofs and various decorations. It would make an excellent base for the Horde, but she would need to make sure that nothing was damaged while they were there. Perhaps they could help the hozen build more durable structures.

The hozen took her towards yet another hozen leader.

"This… uncle!" said the little hozen. "Chief Kah Kah!"

Faith bowed to him while his nephew began to speak rapidly, jumping up and down in his excitement.

"Thank you for helping my nephew," said the chief when the little one had calmed down. He spoke Common, which she hadn't expected, and his speech sounded more refined to her ears.

"You're welcome," she replied in the same language.

"You are friends with the pandaren-wikkets, is that right?"

"You could say that, yes. We just arrived a few days ago. How do you know the Common speech?"

"Wikkets sometimes come here. But they do not leave again. They teach us how to talk before they die."

"My people will be happy to teach you our language to make it easier for us to communicate, if that would be all right."

The chief nodded. "You want them to come here."

"I would. We could help you here against the Jinyu."

"Yes. And the other wikkets."

"What others?"

The chief got up from the chair he had been sitting on and walked slowly towards the edge of the village, pointing towards a clearing.

Squinting, Faith saw shapes dropping from the sky. "Paratroopers," she said. "Alliance."

"They kill us."

Faith found that she wanted to heave a big sigh. She didn't want to kill members of the Alliance, but there was little she could do about it if she wanted to gain the hozen's trust. "All right. We'll do something about them. Do you have anybody who can fight? I can't kill all of them on my own."

"Riko can find fighters."

Riko was the small hozen who had led her to the village. To her surprise, he drew himself up to his full height, which admittedly wasn't very high, and began to call on various members of his tribe. They came to him instantly, ten of them, armed with various spears and accompanied by roaring tigers.

It wasn't a large army by any means, but Faith figured it was better than nothing. She hoped that the tigers were as fierce as they looked.

She wasn't disappointed. Slowly, they approached the area where the paratroopers were landing. Several hozen were attempting to repel them, having moderate success. Several of them, along with a couple of tigers, lay dead on the ground, but there were also several dwarves and humans dead as well. Evidently, they could fight.

A dwarven paratrooper spotted them and tried to raise the alarm, but Faith immediately silenced him with a spell just as one of the tigers pounced. With a swipe of its claw, it severely dented the dwarf's armor, injuring him. Faith finished him off with her spellblade, trying not to think about what she was doing.

It didn't take long for the Alliance to notice she was there. Several of them tried to attack her at once, but the hozen surrounding her were good warriors. Together, they managed to kill a good portion of them, allowing the other hozen to get back to the village relatively unharmed.

The chief was very pleased with what they did, and was even happier with what Faith brought back, several utensils that could be used for fishing.

"I was taught to always salvage as much as I could from a battle, and I thought that you could all use this," she said.

He clapped her on the hip, not being able to reach her shoulder, and beckoned her closer to him. When she leaned down, she felt someone put something on her head, a little crown made of bamboo leaves and wildflowers.

"Wikket good!" cried the hozen, cheering for her.

"You can call your friends here," said the chief. "We can prepare food for them."

"Thank you, chief, but we can prepare our own food as well. Maybe we can all do that together later tonight."

The chief seemed to like that idea and nodded to her.

"Thank you." She moved a little away from them, looking for an area that wouldn't get burned by her magic. After a few seconds, she found a spot near the path that led to the village and raised her hands towards the darkening sky. Murmuring a few words brought forth sparks from her fingers that shot into the air, illuminating the area above the village.

"Now all we have to do is wait," she said.

They did, and less than an hour later, Faith spotted General Nazgrim and the other members of the Horde making their way to them.

"I never thought to befriend these creatures!" he said to Faith. "You did very well here, Major. I'll be sure to tell the warchief about this."

"He'll be delighted," muttered Faith under her breath as more Horde arrived. "You have a prisoner?" she asked suddenly, seeing several orcs leading a soldier into the village.

"Oh, yes. We caught him trying to sneak past us. The fool."

The hozen had begun to light torches around the village for the night. The orcs and the prisoner passed under one of them, and when Faith saw his blond hair, she nearly cried out.

It was Prince Anduin.

* * *

**Author's Note (2)**  - For those of you who like the Pandaria storyline, I took a bit of liberty with the hozen. I know that none of them speak perfect Common or Orcish, but I needed someone to speak something correctly, for the simple reason that it's a pain to type everything the hozen way (spellcheck is a pain as far as that goes).

Love,  
Lunarelle


	40. Chapter 40

Prince Anduin. As a prisoner of the Horde. What he was doing in Pandaria was a mystery that Faith didn't want to contemplate, but how in the world had he been captured by the Horde? And why weren't there more guards around him?

"Tie the prisoner over there," said Nazgrim, carelessly gesturing towards a hut. Faith could only watch as an orc dragged Anduin to the hut and tied him to one of the supports. She glanced at everyone, and it dawned on her that nobody had realized who this was.

She felt Anduin staring at her, and she simply glanced at him, nodding in recognition. Cursing under her breath, she wondered what she should do. As a member of the Horde, she had a duty to inform General Nazgrim of Anduin's identity. It would certainly give them a huge advantage over the Alliance. Of course, it would also bring the Alliance on top of them like a paladin's hammer.

On the other hand, she had no desire to help Garrosh achieve victory in these lands. As a matter of fact, she wanted nothing to do with his campaign.

"You seem very pensive," said Nazgrim, walking to her. "You did a good job here, you know. You should be proud."

Faith didn't answer, merely looking down towards the river and seeing some of the fish-people Lorewalker Cho had mentioned to her. A battle seemed to be going on near the water. "I fear that we may have crossed into another war, General," she said after a while. "The Hozen and the Jinyu seem to like each other about as much as the Forsaken and the Scourge."

"Well, since we've befriended these creatures, it's up to us to help them, is it not?"

"It is," agreed Faith. "I think it's also safe to assume that the Alliance has allied itself with these Jinyu."

"All the more reason to kill them. I wonder if they're good to eat."

Faith stared at him, disgusted, "What?"

"Well, you may not eat anymore, but the rest of us do."

"Not even Forsaken eat their enemies," she told him. "Are you really telling me that you can find absolutely nothing else to eat here?" She looked at him skeptically. Her senses might have been dulled, but the few days she had spent in that pandaren village had been enough to tell her that if she had still been eating, she would have absolutely loved their cuisine.

"It was just a suggestion."

Merely shaking her head, Faith walked away from him, finding herself next to Prince Anduin. Pretending to check his bonds, she spoke to him in a low voice. "What are you doing here?"

The prince looked down at her, his eyes wide, "We weren't supposed to end up here," he said quietly. "We… we heard what happened to you."

Faith glanced at him, "I'm fine," she said. "How did you get captured?"

He shrugged, "I don't know. Are… are you going to help me?"

Help him. She bit her lip. When she had betrayed the Horde in Theramore, things had seemed simple to her. But now… "I'm still thinking about it. When's the last time you ate anything?"

"I don't know. Maybe yesterday."

She blinked, and a moment later, conjured a bread roll into Anduin's hand, "Eat that quickly, before someone sees you. It's not much, but it should help."

He did as she told him, turning his back on most of the Horde soldiers who were around. "It's good," he said, swallowing a mouthful. "You conjured butter in it?"

Faith gave a nod, "Yes. I always found that it was better that way." She looked around, "I should go. I'll try to come by later, once I've figured out what to do with you." She moved away from him and went to help the soldiers set up several tents in the hozen village. It wasn't great, but they certainly had more cover than they'd had at the airfield, and the hozen gave them a few fish to roast over a fire for dinner, which was good for the living.

She and the Forsaken spent the night patrolling the village, making sure that no Jinyu infiltrated them. Unseen by anybody, she also got Anduin a blanket and a few more food items, managing to make a fish sandwich for him.

"One of the advantages of being a Forsaken now is that I can blend in with darkness, so there aren't many people who can see me, except other Forsaken, of course." She lengthened Anduin's chains so that he would have enough room to lie down and get as comfortable as possible.

"Thank you," he said quietly. "I'm so sorry about… you know."

"These things happen, unfortunately. I should consider myself lucky to still be around."

"I wanted to write to Sylvanas but… I couldn't think of what to say to her."

He sounded sincere. "Thank you, Your Highness. I think it's best that you didn't write. She was in such a state that she would have felt that you were making fun of her, and that would have been disastrous."

A nod, "I wrote to Alleria, though."

"That's good. I'm sure she appreciated it."

Anduin looked at her, "How do you feel about what happened to Rhonin?"

"He was my mentor, and I knew him before that. His death is difficult to bear, even now. I try not to think about it too much, to be honest." She got to her feet, "You should try to get some sleep." She waited until he had closed his eyes before walking away from him. She wished Sylvanas were with her. She didn't feel capable of taking a decision about Anduin without her.

_Yes you can_ , came Sylvanas' voice in her mind.  _You've already made your decision._

Faith smiled a little. "Get out of my head."

_But it's fun in here. There's all kinds of stuff tucked away in the dark recesses of your mind._

"Sylvanas," she said, a warning in her voice.

Sylvanas chuckled, closing her eyes and imagining Faith in Pandaria. Flashes of her thoughts ran through her mind. Thoughts of them making love in every imaginable place, even… Sylvanas burst into laughter. "Really, Faith? On the Frozen Throne?"

"Sylvanas!"

Her cry caused several people around her to jump.

"What's wrong?" asked a Forsaken soldier. "Is the Dark Lady all right?"

Faith nearly rolled her eyes, "She's fine. She's just being insufferable, that's all."

The soldier looked at her, his yellow eyes unmoving. His name was Stanley Molden, and he looked fresher than he should have been. Faith wondered for a moment what dark magic he had used to make his body appear newly undead, but she didn't question him about it. "Are you sure?"

"Positive. You don't need to worry about her."

"It's just that you sounded worried."

"Stop prying. She's fine."

She turned away from him, but he followed her, "Don't forget, Faith, that you're not the only person who cares for Sylvanas."

"Oh, for the love of the Sun, I know that. But what goes on between the two of us is private, is that understood?"

He nodded, "Quite."

Faith nearly screamed. Ever since she'd become an undead, there had been a shift in her relationship with the others. While she'd been alive, most Forsaken had felt that Faith had been able to give Sylvanas something that they couldn't, but now… everything was different.

_It's as if they can't understand that she and I have loved each other since before all of this happened_ , she told herself. "Is that what it was, Sylvanas? Did you love me because I was alive? Did you even love me for real?"

Sylvanas stirred in her mind. Faith felt indignation that wasn't her own coursing through her very veins the way her blood had. But she didn't open her mind to Sylvanas again, not wanting an answer to her question. For the rest of the night, she thought about it, stirring the bonfire at the center of the village and turning the flames different colors as she contemplated everything.

She didn't know anymore.

By the time the sun rose, she felt even more conflicted and angry, although she tried to reign it in. The rational part of her mind reminded her that Sylvanas had loved her for decades, but that only made things worse.

"What's the matter with you this morning?" Nazgrim asked her.

"Nothing. Have you figured out what our next move should be?"

"Why? You have something you need to do?"

Faith cocked her head to the side, "I know that we didn't just bring half the Horde to Pandaria to sit in a hozen village doing nothing, General. So if there is something that you would like us to do, now would be the time to say something. Otherwise, I can imbue our weapons with magic for whatever battle is brewing between our hosts and the Jinyu."

"Why would you want to imbue weapons with magic?"

"Additional potency," she said, taking the sword that was hanging at his belt and running her hand over the blade, which began to glow a faint orange. "There. Your blade has been strengthened. Garrosh may think that my skills as a mage are just for show, but I promise you that they aren't."

He looked at her for a moment, "I never actually thought about our weapons. But that's not a bad idea. I'm sure that the hozen will appreciate having stronger spears than those made of wood."

Faith had learned long ago to never underestimate wooden weapons, but she smiled, gathering a few mages and beginning to work on the weapons in the village while others went hunting for food. In the meantime, several orcs went to explore the area, reporting back within the hour that the Alliance had indeed thrown in their lot with the Jinyu, and that they were planning an attack on the hozen village very soon.

"We can't let that happen," said Nazgrim. "I don't know what these Jinyu are like, but I'm not about to let them attack us now that we've finally gotten settled."

But happen it did.

A couple of days later, the Alliance and Jinyu launched a full-scale attack on Grookin Hill. They were ready for them, having worked with goblin engineers to manufacture explosive mines that dotted the area around the hill. Several Alliance soldiers got a nasty surprise when the mines exploded beneath their very feet, and during the kerfuffle, Faith loosened the chains around Anduin's wrists, allowing him to flee.

Faith was fighting a burly Alliance soldier when she heard cries indicating that Anduin's escape had been noticed.

"Give it  _up_ , soldier!" she hissed, parrying his blow with her spellblade.

"Never! I would rather die for the Alliance than give in to the Horde!"

"Well, if that's the way you want it…" raising her hand, she murmured a spell so that bright red flames shot from her palm, hitting the soldier in the face and chest. He began to shriek in agony as the flames consumed him, and she ended his life with a flick of her wrist, slicing his throat.

_I wish I hadn't had to do that_ , she said to herself as she went back to the hill to see what was going on.

Fighting was raging around them. Several Alliance soldiers and Jinyu had come into the village, and were battling fiercely with the Horde and hozen.

"He's gone!" shouted Nazgrim. "The prisoner is gone!"

"Of course he's gone," said Faith. "Why do you think that the Alliance targeted us?"

"Because of  _one_  prisoner?"

She pursed her lips, pretending to think, "Maybe he knew something important. The position of Alliance troops in Pandaria."

Nazgrim cursed, "This is ridiculous.  _Find him_!"

"You won't find him," she told him practically. "The Alliance wanted him back, and they got him back. The attack was just a diversion."

She wasn't making it up. Now that Anduin had escaped, Faith noticed that the battle was calming down. Sure, several people were still locked against each other, and as she watched, she saw a Jinyu ram a broadsword right through a younger hozen, who made a horrible sound as blood poured from his mouth. "Ah, damn," she said.

She ran to the fallen hozen, but there was nothing she could do. His vacant glaze indicated that he was already dead. The Jinyu was already gone, having run back to the river. She didn't follow it, instead lending a hand to someone else who was fighting tooth and nail against a Jinyu of impressive proportions. She hadn't seen many of these creatures, who smelled like brine and fish, but she had realized that most of them had the same coloring and roughly the same size. This one was orange in color and at least half a foot taller than the Jinyu around it.

Joining the fray, she gave the tired orc time to recuperate as she took over the duel. The Jinyu attempted to speak to her.

"Do… not fight us…" it said, gasping.

" _You_  attacked  _us_!" she hissed, swinging her sword and hitting the small space between two bits of armor the creature was wearing. Blood flew.

The Jinyu took a long leap back, "We came to get the prince!" he said.

"What prince?" she asked, working hard to twist her features into a mask of incredulity as she advanced.

"The Prince of the Alliance! Now that we have him, we do not need to fight. For now." He gave a watery cry, and several fighting Jinyu raced towards him. A moment later, he and his companions were running away, and other members of the Alliance were doing the same.

"That's unlike them," said Nazgrim, walking to her. "Did that thing say something about the prince of the Alliance?"

"Prince Anduin? It can't be. We would have known if we'd had him in our midst."

Faith could tell Nazgrim was thinking fast, going over Anduin's facial features and trying to match them with the prisoner he had barely looked at.

"You've seen the prince before, right? Could that have been him?"

She took a while to phrase her answer. "It's possible, but unlikely. I saw Anduin over a year ago. Teenage boys change a lot in a year, and I only saw him briefly, as we were being kept hostage at the time by the Dark Iron Dwarves, remember?"

"So you didn't recognize him."

She shook her head, "I'm afraid I didn't pay very close attention to the prisoner, I'm sorry."

Nazgrim cursed again, "If it turns out that was Prince Anduin and Garrosh finds out… he'll have our heads."

"Look at it this way: what Garrosh doesn't know can't hurt him," said Faith.

"I can't keep something like this from him!"

"You can, and you will. As far as we know, the kid that was our prisoner was a young soldier. He was dressed as such. How were we supposed to know who he was? I mean, it's not like we walk around with his likeness in our pockets. How do we know that Jinyu didn't say what it said to confuse us and stop us from following them?"

Nazgrim looked at her, wanting to believe her. His eyes were terrified. "You have no idea what he'll do if it turns out that it was him."

"Oh, I think I have an idea of what he'll do. But he doesn't need to know, General, I mean it."

"Could you go look for him?"

"You want me to go look for the soldier? I could, of course, but, General, you need to understand that I may not be able to recognize him at all. I mean, if they put a helmet on him, I won't have a clue who I'm looking at."

"Please. I don't want Garrosh to kill me, in case it was Anduin."

"Grow a backbone, General. Garrosh won't find out, and I am not about to go a wild hunt to find someone who might be back in Stormwind by now! Come on, focus on what it is that you need to do! I mean it, what is it that you're here for? You're here because Garrosh wants to conquer this land, right? Well, the way to do that, without absolutely decimating the natives, is to work with them."

He looked at her, saying nothing.

"So, we've established a good relationship with the hozen of this area of Pandaria. That's a very good start. Now, what we need to do is work with the pandaren. Think of it in terms of what we did elsewhere. When we were in Outland, we worked with the native orcs, right? And when we were in Northrend, we worked with the Taunka to make sure they were integrated within the Horde. This is much the same."

"So, you want us to work with the pandaren," he repeated.

Faith could have shaken him. He was more scared than she'd ever seen him before. "Yes, I do. I promised Taran Zhu that we wouldn't destroy his home. If we keep our word, we'll be more likely to earn his and the pandaren's trust, which will make our campaign here that much easier."

He nodded, but his green skin was still very pale. Faith wondered for a moment whether he hadn't been affected by one of the sha spirits of fear or despair. "I… I guess you're right."

"Nazgrim, don't make me hit you. Pull yourself together. This is hardly the worst thing to happen to us. We have a good base and a good relationship with the hozen. We just survived a pretty brazen attack by the Alliance, and we killed quite a few of their numbers along with some of the Jinyu. You can tell Garrosh that. Tell him that we've started off well in Pandaria, and that our next move is to go to other areas here in the Jade Forest and see what else we can find out about this place. And if we can kill more members of the Alliance, we'll do so."

He looked at her again, and his eyes seemed to focus, "You're right. The loss of one prisoner shouldn't make me feel like this. I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me."

"I think it might have been the sha. Don't let yourself get overwhelmed with negative emotions. Focus on the positive."

"And you can do that?"

"My lover's in my head, constantly telling me that she's there for me. It's easier for me that way, despite everything that's happened." She chuckled at the incredulous look on Nazgrim's face, "I know, everyone thinks I cry too much. And I'm not saying it's easy, but… I've died. It doesn't really get worse than that."

"And if Sylvanas were to die again?"

"Okay, that would be worse." She absently pulled a piece of loose skin off her ear, "So. What would you like us to do?"

"You seem to have gotten a rapport with the pandaren. Could you talk to them on behalf of the Horde?"

"You want me to be an ambassador?"

"Yes. You're well-suited for such a task. Although I have no idea where you could go."

Faith bit her lip gently, "Taran Zhu told me to go to the Temple of the Jade Serpent."

"Then that's where you'll go. I'll send others to different parts of the Jade Forest." He pulled a battered map from a pouch at his waist and pointed to several areas, "Maybe I could send people here," he said. "To Dawn's Blossom. And someone else to the Tian Monastery."

"That sounds like a plan. And where will you go?"

"I'm going to lead a team to the Serpent's Overlook, right here."

She gave a nod, "There you go. We should also leave some troops here with the hozen, and others at the airstrip just in case the Alliance try to attack again."

"Good idea. And don't worry, during my travel to the temple, I'll check Alliance soldiers. If I come across this same person, I'll try to capture him for the Horde."

Nazgrim clapped her on the shoulder, "Thank you, Faith. Despite what Garrosh says, you're a true soldier of the Horde."

Faith said nothing, feeling slightly guilty now. Nazgrim trusted her. She hoped that his trust wouldn't end up getting him killed, if indeed Garrosh found out that Prince Anduin had escaped their clutches.


	41. Chapter 41

The road to the Temple of the Jade Serpent was surprisingly free of problems. The animals didn't bother them as long as they didn't stray away from the road they were on, and the few locals who were around waved cheerfully at them, even offering them food and water.

"They're certainly friendly," said Faith to Emi, who nodded.

"Oh, everyone's friendly here. Well, of course, you sometimes have conflicts, you know, like between the Goldendraft and the Wanderbrews, but other than that, we're a friendly sort of people. The Shado-Pan are a lot more reserved, but they're charged with the security of Pandaria, so that's to be expected."

Faith smiled a little, "I'm used to people being much more aggressive. But maybe that's because of everything we've been through as a whole."

"I guess that if our world had been destroyed so many times, we would be more aggressive as well," said Emi quietly. "I'd like to hear more about everything you've faced, and I'm sure that the people of Dawn's Blossom would be happy to hear about it as well. We'll be stopping there for a couple of days to give our mounts some time to rest."

"Dawn's Blossom. Sounds pretty."

"Thanks. You can see it just over there. We should be there in about an hour."

She wasn't wrong. They arrived in the village of Dawn's Blossom an hour later, and were greeted enthusiastically by the villagers, who were very curious about Faith and Garia. Evidently they weren't used to seeing undead or members of another race.

"What are they?" asked a young pandaren, poking at Faith's leg as he approached her.

"We're not toys that you can touch whenever you want," Faith told him. The cub yelped and leapt away from her.

Garia snickered. "I think we're going to spend most of our time here explaining what we are."

Faith smiled, "Since I'm supposed to be a Horde ambassador to these people, I suppose I should tell them about us." But first, she needed to find the mayor of the village. Someone directed her to a beautifully rendered building at the top of a set of winding stairs, and she started walking towards it, noticing, to her amusement, that several more pandaren cubs were trailing after her. One of the more daring ones, a female, actually took her hand to walk with her.

"What do you think Sylvanas would do if she were to see you like this?"

"Surrounded by… cubs? I think she'd laugh herself silly. In a previous life, she might have thought it cute."

They reached the building and walked inside, the cubs staying outside respectfully. The mayor of the city, who was called Master Windfur, watched as they made their way towards them.

"Welcome to Dawn's Blossom," he said. "I heard of your exploits with the forest hozen. Not many people survive an encounter with them, so you must have some impressive skills to earn their trust."

Faith bowed, "Thank you, Master Windfur. We took a chance with the hozen, and it paid off."

The mayor nodded, "That it did. Tell me, why have you come to our lands?"

Faith resisted the urge to roll her eyes and explained the situation, reiterating the promise she had made to Taran Zhu. "I am personally not here to destroy your lands. In the short time I've been here, I've grown to respect it, and I look forward to seeing more of it, if only to learn about it."

"Ah, you are thinking about taking the path of the Lorewalkers?"

"I don't know if I would consider myself to be of the same caliber, if indeed all the Lorewalkers are like the pandaren I met when I first arrived here," said Faith.

Master Windfur nodded, "So, right now, you are on your way to the Temple of the Jade Serpent."

"That's right. Taran Zhu told me that I could find some answers there, answers that could help me not succumb to the sha while in Pandaria."

"Yes, I suppose that the sha would be quite dangerous to you, considering the fact that you are neither living nor dead."

"I suppose that's true of most of the Horde and the Alliance. We are at war after all, so I think that both our sides are plagued with negative emotions."

"How long will you be staying at Dawn's Blossom?"

"Until our friend Emi has rested, so we will only stay here the night. We would never want to impose."

"Is there anything you need done while we are here?" asked Garia.

Master Windfur looked at her, "We are currently having problems at the Silkwood. It would be good if someone could cull the number of spiders over there."

It took everything Faith had in her to not wince. "Consider it done. How many would you like killed?"

"All of them, if at all possible. But there are many spiderlings hidden in the webs, and they like to crawl all over intruders."

"That sounds pleasant," said Faith, not wanting to imagine it. Memories of Naxxramas came over her, and it must have been bad, because she felt Sylvanas stirring within her, telling her to remain calm. "I suppose that you would like us to bring you back some of the silk webbing?"

Master Windfur looked at her, "As a matter of fact, that would be most helpful. When washed, the webbing creates a good adhesive that we use sometimes to bind wounds."

So Faith wouldn't be able to use any fire spells so as not to damage the webs. But if there were tiny spiders crawling all over the strands… She nearly shuddered. "All right. We will work on this tonight while Emi rests." She bowed to the mayor again and walked out of the building with Garia, waiting until they were out of earshot to say anything.

"Are you all right?"

Faith glanced at the death knight, "Oh yeah, sure. Culling spiders is one of my favorite activities in the world, really. Especially when I can't use fire against them."

"Look, I can take care of the spiders, it won't be a problem."

"Don't be silly, I can't let you do this alone."

They walked out of Dawn's Blossom and quickly found themselves near the Silkwood, an area of web-covered trees that was full of staring violet eyes. Even from a distance, Faith noticed the creatures everywhere.

"No wonder they're having problems," she said. "There must be three dozen large spiders there, not to mention the smaller ones all over the place."

Garia agreed, "If this goes on unchecked, they'll take over the entire forest."

"I guess that's why we're here." Closing her eyes, Faith counted to ten, willing her body to relax as much as possible before she stepped forward, her booted feet making no sound on the soft grass as she moved.

It was easier said than done. The moment the spiders realized that Faith and Garia were coming for them, they attacked. Managing not to scream, Faith slashed the first spider in half, sending black ichor in every direction. Next to her, Garia separated the second spider's legs from its body and the creature gave a horrible anguished cry.

Faith would have felt sorry for the beast, but she was busy trying not to panic as yet another spider came for her. It began to spin a surprisingly strong web around her, but she cut it down quickly, keeping it almost intact.

"The small ones are coming!" hissed Garia.

Faith had no choice. Faced with so many spiders coming for her, she sent fire spells at them, which decimated them quickly enough, but caused a creature to roar in rage.

A huge spider, at least ten feet tall, came for them, pincers clicking. Venom dripped from its fangs, visible in the moonlight.

"That must be mommy," said Garia, brandishing her sword.

"Mommy…" echoed Faith. She had seen bigger spiders before, but that didn't help her in her current situation. Feeling slightly sick, she cast an arcane spell that did absolutely nothing to the spider, merely bouncing off its hide.

_Oh… please don't tell me I'm going to have to get close to that thing…_

She cast spell after spell, but nothing worked, not from where Faith was standing. She would indeed have to get close to get to the belly of the spider, which was unprotected. She waited a split second for Garia to make her move, and ran, her feet almost getting tangled in the webbing on the ground. She reached the spider just as the creature turned towards her again.

There was nothing else to be done. With a cry, Faith cast a spell and plunged her blade in the spider's open mouth, trying to avoid its fangs. At the same time, Garia struck it from behind, hacking off one of its limbs.

The spider backed off quickly, hobbling on its seven remaining legs. It coughed up foul ichor and tried to move away from them.

"Oh no you don't, sister," said Faith, casting a spell to close a wound on her arm. "You're not going to come back with reinforcements, I can promise you that."

It reared, trying to intimidate them.

Faith lunged forward, a ball of black fire in the palm of her hand. She released it before the spider realized its mistake.

Giving a scream, the arachnid collapsed on its back, its legs flailing in the air as the fire began to consume its body. It screeched and tried to get up, but it was dying. There was nothing else it could do to save itself.

"Looks like the other spiders have run off," said Garia. "That's good, we'll be able to collect the webbing for Master Windfur."

There wasn't much intact webbing in the forest. A lot of it was still infested with spiderlings no bigger than Faith's hand, but they found several areas where the webs were new and almost pristine.

"That'll do," said Faith, casting a spell to peel the sticky strands away from the tree. Garia used leaves to wrap everything up so that it wouldn't get stuck to them, and after a few minutes, they made their way back to Dawn's Blossom.

They had spent a good hour in the Silkwood, and Master Windfur had evidently not expected them to return so soon. He stared at them when they walked towards him, webbing in tow.

"There you go," said Faith when Garia placed the webbing on the table. "We got rid of a matriarch spider and several smaller ones. They shouldn't bother you for a while."

"You got rid of the matriarch?" he asked, his eyes wide.

"Oh, was there only one?" wondered Garia.

"It was the biggest spider in the Jade Forest. I never… I didn't think that you would actually be able to kill her. That's wonderful news."

Faith held up a hand, "Don't get too comfortable. They might return. You should post a few guards near the wood to make sure that it remains clear."

Master Windfur nodded, "Of course, of course… thank you so much for this. The matriarch… she liked to take the cubs that wandered too far from Dawn's Blossom."

"That must have been terrible," said Faith quietly. "I'm sorry."

The mayor thanked them again. "Please feel free to use any of the facilities in Dawn's Blossom. We can get you new clothes, should you want them."

Faith looked down at her outfit, finding that it was covered in grime and gore. "That would be welcome. I would appreciate being able to clean up as well."

"You clean up?" asked Garia. "You're undead."

"Just because I'm not alive doesn't mean I have to look like it. People respond better to someone who's presentable, trust me."

Master Windfur personally took them to a guest building where he showed them the bathing facilities and had a tailor get new clothes for Faith and Garia. They thanked him and cleaned up with chilled water, Garia finding that it actually felt good to be clean, even though she hadn't been alive in quite some time.

"It's weird," she said. "I never thought that cleaning up was a priority now."

Faith smiled, "I'm not only doing this for myself. If I'm going to be an ambassador in Pandaria, I need to look like someone that people want to approach. Although being the way I am might put a lot of people off."

"Well, you seem to have done well at Dawn's Blossom in any case. Do you think that we could recruit some of the pandaren here to fight with us?"

"No. This isn't their war."

Faith got dressed, putting on black leather robes. Cleaning her boots with a spell, she put them on again and thanked the tailor for her services.

It was very late. Most people of the village were asleep, save for the guards who were keeping watch in the streets. Faith figured that she and Garia might as well help them with their duties, and took up posts along the wall that surrounded the area. But nothing happened, and the two of them spent a pleasant time having a quiet conversation until dawn broke in the east.

Emi joined them as soon as she woke up, chewing on a pastry roll that would have made Faith's mouth water had she been able to eat. Garia seemed to be thinking along the same lines.

"That looks really good," she said to Emi.

"It is delicious, actually."

Garia ran a hand over her eyes, "It's strange the things you miss. Eating a simple meal with friends was one of my favorite activities, but I didn't realize that until I couldn't do it anymore."

"It's best not to think about it," said Faith, cracking her neck once. "I'll go get our mounts ready to go."

"You want to leave now?" asked Emi, surprised. "Master Windfur has just told me that he would be happy to have us stay longer."

"That's very kind of him, but I was told to go to the temple, so that's where I need to go. I can't dawdle just because a place is pretty. And it's very pretty, I have to say. The colors are so vivid here."

"Aren't they vivid in your home?"

Faith shook her head, "Not in my part of Quel'Thalas, no."

"Because of the Scourge you told me about?"

"That's right. The north of Quel'Thalas is all golden and red, it's like perpetual autumn. But Southern Quel'Thalas used to be such a vibrant green color, it was beautiful. Everything was  _alive_  there. There were herds of deer and red lynxes, flowers that grew on tree moss and around lakes and riverbanks. There were a few darker spots where the trolls lived, but the trolls, for all their faults, didn't blight nature. We also had giant spiders, one of which nearly killed Sylvanas and I. They're still there, and really haven't changed. I guess they thrive no matter what the land is like."

"Is there such a thing as undead spiders?"

Something must have shown on Faith's face, because Emi suddenly took a few steps back.

"Never mind," she said. "I'm sorry I asked." She popped the rest of her pastry in her mouth, "The Temple isn't really far away. We should be there in a couple of hours, really."

"If you want to stay," said Faith, "we can just go on our own."

"No, I wouldn't do that to you. I said I'd take you to the temple, and I mean to. It'll be fun, and I'll be able to see my uncle."

They left Dawn's Blossom a few minutes later, taking messages and some supplies with them to the temple.

"Why the supplies?" asked Garia. "They're hardly at war."

"It's always nice to bring something with you when you arrive somewhere unexpectedly."

"I thought you said that Taran Zhu had told you to meet him at the temple?"

"No, he told me that I might find answers there. I'm not sure whether he'll be there. But Lorewalker Cho said that he would meet me."

Emi grumbled, "I cannot believe that you met him. He is a legend in Pandaria, and I have only seen him once."

"Where?" asked Garia.

"He gave a speech not far from my village. It was inspiring. Before I heard him speak, I wasn't interested in studying at all, but since that day…" her voice trailed off, and Faith smiled.

"You wouldn't happen to  _like_  him, would you?"

Emi stopped her mount in the middle of the path, " _Like_  him? Of course not! Not like that! He is older than me by twenty years!"

"Sylvanas is older than me by fifty years, and that's never stopped me from being in love with her."

"It's so weird that you're in love with a woman." Emi looked back at her quickly as she urged her mount to move on, "I do not mean to offend you, you understand."

"No offense taken," Faith assured her.

"It's just that we're not really used to that kind of thing here."

"It wasn't very common at home either, but it happened from time to time. Sylvanas and I didn't… we didn't do anything until it was too late to matter. She died about half an hour after shared our first kiss." She didn't say anything else on the subject, but felt Garia's eyes on her for a while. Faith finally turned to her. "What is it?"

"Oh, I just… you still love her, even though you're dead now."

"People have a hard time grasping the fact that Forsaken can love just as much as the living can. We haven't entirely lost our souls, you know, although some of us are further gone than others."

"I just don't think I'll ever be able to care for anybody again."

"That doesn't sound right to me," said Emi. "You are not just following Faith because she saved your life, are you?"

"Yes, I am."

Emi gave a nod, "All right, but you are talking to her and getting to know her. Those are signs of caring about something other than blood."

"How do you know that I'm not talking to her because I'm bored?"

Faith chuckled, "Garia, I'm sure that you do have the ability to care about others. Your skills might be a little rusty, but you can still form bonds with people. Maybe you'll be able to find answers at the temple too, you never know."

The three of them rounded a corner, and suddenly, the temple rose before them behind impressive walls. A gate loomed ahead of them, beautifully decorated like all the other pandaren buildings. Faith stared at it for a full minute before she moved Winter forward.

"It's a pretty place," said Emi.

It was more than that. It was beautiful. Layered tiles of jade made up the top of the wall and the roof of the temple itself and fragrant red trees dotted the landscape here and there. Guards stood on either side of the gate, carrying spears and dressed in a black and gold uniform that matched the dragon carvings on the doors.

As they walked in, Faith's eyes opened wide, seeing greenery, pure-white cranes, and water everywhere. A river wound its way through the temple grounds, with curved bridges allowing the pedestrians to cross without getting wet.

"This is unbelievable," whispered Faith. Even Garia seemed stunned by what she was seeing. "I wish Sylvanas could see this."

"Maybe she can come and visit you," said Emi. "She could also find some answers here, like you and Garia."

Faith smiled, "I don't know about that. But if I were to ask her to come…"

At that exact moment, in Undercity, Sylvanas' red eyes opened. Even from thousands of miles away, she could feel Faith yearning for her. She wanted her there. Whatever it was that she was seeing, she wanted to share it with her.

"You have that look on your face, my Lady," said Rotvine.

"What look?"

"The look that says that you're going to go to Faith no matter what anybody has to say about it."

"You know me well, Carrick."

"Would you like a portal?"

"Perhaps. Faith hasn't asked me to go to her yet. I want her to ask. I can feel that she wants me there. Her longing for me… it's coursing through her veins like blood. But it's not enough yet. I want her to beg for me."

A predatory smile came over her features. Her own need washed over her like a silk sheet, caressing her skin and nearly making her scream.

_Faith_.


	42. Chapter 42

The trees were alive with sounds. Breezes played between their branches, and hidden birds sang to each other, their sweet voices resonating throughout the grounds.

There were other sounds as well. The grunts of the pandaren monks as they worked out together. The sound of the river as it wove its course between tree roots and the earth itself. The quiet talk of people walking by, not wanting to disturb meditating students.

It was a peaceful area, and Faith felt that peace coming over her slowly as she and the others left their mounts at the stables and began walking around. Faith found that she didn't want to raise her voice out of respect for the people who were there.

"Unreal," whispered Garia. "I don't even think that Light's Hope Chapel is like this."

"This quiet, you mean?" asked Faith in an equally low voice. "The last few times I was there, it was under attack by the Scourge, so I think that being quiet was the least of anybody's worries." She smiled, "But I know what you mean."

Someone walked up to them, a female pandaren in sky-blue robes, "Hello," she said quietly. "You must be the Horde delegation we have been expecting?"

"If you want to call two people a delegation," said Faith. She bowed a little, "My name is Faith Everstone, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Welcome to the Temple of the Jade Serpent. My name is Yuki Swiftpaw, and I am one of the monks in training here. I have been instructed to show you around the grounds, and to take you to Lorewalker Cho, who has just arrived. Would you care for some refreshments? We have tea and spicy noodles available."

"That's very kind of you, but as Garia and I aren't technically alive, we don't eat. But I'm sure that our companion Emi wouldn't object to food."

Emi grinned, "No, I certainly will not object to food. But I will stay here for now, and let you two get acquainted with the temple."

"Are you sure?"

"Oh yes. Master Ye here is going to make me some chicken skewers dipped in honey sauce, and they're my favorite."

Faith started to chuckle, "This is when I'm both happy and furious that I'm dead. Happy because I don't have to waste my time eating, but sad because I can't taste anything anymore. Not like that, anyway."

They bid Emi goodbye and followed Yuki as she began to lead them through the grounds. She explained how the temple had come to be, and that there were several other temples in Pandaria: the Temple of the Red Crane in the Krasarang Wilds, the Temple of the White Tiger in Kun-Lai Summit, and the Niuzao Temple in the Townlong Steppes. The mere mention of those places activated Faith's wanderlust, and she found herself wanting to visit all of them.

"Those are the four temples of the August Celestials," concluded Yuki.

"And those are the current leaders of Pandaria in the absence of a formal ruler, is that correct?" asked Faith.

"Yes. They are the four wild gods of Pandaria, tasked with protecting us from the mogu and the sha. I believe that things will be more difficult for us now that the sha have been released."

A sliver of guilt lanced Faith's conscience. "I'm sorry that we released them. Please know that it wasn't our intention to do anything like that."

"War often brings out the worst in people. I am not an expert by any means, but I can sense that you are very conflicted. Is that why you were told to come here?"

"I was told that I would be able to find some answers here, but I'm not sure what that means, to be honest." She looked up at a graceful willow whose branches dipped in the water, "It's beautiful and peaceful here, but I don't know what I'll be able to find."

"Maybe some peace of mind. Come with me."

Yuki led Faith and Garia towards the temple itself, opening a carved door on the side of the massive building and going inside.

Faith gasped.

The room they were in was sumptuous, decorated in dark brown and gold tones. The walls were carved with ancient pandaren symbols, and there were several shelves around the place on which scrolls rested, just waiting to be unfurled and read. On a table lay various books, their leather covers polished, along with quills, inks, and potion bottles. A small fountain glowed blue in the corner, adding a musical undertone to the room, and a green potted plant made everything feel more alive.

"My people would love this," said Faith, looking down at the elaborate carpet beneath her feet. "Or, well, my former people, as I am no longer a Sin'dorei."

Yuki smiled, "I am pleased that you like it." She turned, "Here is Lorewalker Cho now, along with my grandfather, Quan Swiftpaw, who is one of the masters here."

The two pandaren males were walking towards them, taking their time as they finished a quiet conversation. They smiled at her as they entered the room.

"I am happy to see that you have made it here," said the lorewalker. "I trust that you had a good trip from the hozen village?"

"Yes, it was quite pleasant, thank you," answered Faith.

"Faith has been awed by the temple," said Emi, smiling.

Master Swiftpaw smiled, "It is a marvel, is it not? I do hope that Yu'lon is happy with it. We built it especially for her." He cleared his throat, "So. You are here to get some answers, according to the letter that I received from Master Taran Zhu."

Faith said nothing, merely looking at the pandaren.

"I understand that you were recently killed. I am sure that was a shock to you. Lorewalker Cho has told me that you have been through quite a lot. But I would appreciate it if you could tell me everything."

"Everything?" asked Faith. She didn't know how many times she could go through everything that had happened to her. "You don't seem surprised to see that Garia and I are undead."

"Ever since your people came to our shores, we have seen undead walking around. Some of them seem hostile, while others are more pleasant to speak to."

"I suppose the same can be said of every race on Azeroth, whether they be living or dead."

He nodded, "Would you like to tell me your story?"

Faith did so, trying to inject very little emotion into what she was saying. She then listened to what Garia had to say, learning that she too had a similar story, having seen the warrior she loved fall to the Scourge and be raised into undeath.

"But in my case, he was killed shortly after, and I did not have to think long about his death, as I followed suit just a few weeks later, about five days before the Lich King was slain."

Faith winced, "I'm sorry… maybe if we'd acted sooner to kill Arthas –."

"There's nothing you could have done," Garia told her.

"No, I guess we couldn't. Are you still angry?"

"About what happened? It happens from time to time. Mostly, I take out my aggression on whatever I'm fighting, and it helps, although I know that chopping off an Alliance soldier's head isn't going to bring me back to life or anything." She shrugged, "I've come to terms with it. You will too, in time."

"I'm still not over Sylvanas dying, and you want me to get over my own death?"

Master Swiftpaw put a hand on Faith's shoulder, "Actually, you bring up an excellent point. You are still not over your lover's death."

"We weren't lovers when she died," said Faith quietly.

"But you loved each other."

Faith looked down, hesitating. "Yes."

"You are not sure?"

"Things have become a little hazy for me since I died. I know how I feel, but figuring out how she feels is a little trickier."

_You know how I feel about you!_

Faith jumped, shaking her head. "I know she loves me, but…"

"But you do not know if it is real love."

"That sounds ridiculous, right? So much has happened, not just to me, but to the world around us, and all I can worry about is whether my girlfriend truly loves me. She raised me from undeath, and now I'm not sure about anything." Her throat closed up and her vision turned grainy as a dusty tear formed in her eye.

"Sometimes, love is the only thing we have to sustain us," said Yuki.

Master Swiftpaw gave a nod. "Yuki, Lorewalker, could you please give Garia here a more extensive tour of the temple? This is an excellent opportunity to learn more about her and her people." He looked towards Faith, "You and I will talk in the meantime."

Garia was clearly uncomfortable about leaving Faith where she was, but offered no objection when she was led away. Faith took a seat on one of the couches in the room, and he sat on a squashy pillow in front of her. "What do you want to know?" she asked him.

"It is not what I want to know. This is about the answers that you seek for yourself. You are in turmoil, which is normal, considering that you were killed." He pulled a vial from the pocket of his robes, "There is a potion that could help you. It will take you on a quest of vision that will allow you to find the answers that you seek."

"A vision quest?" asked Faith, eyeing the potion with distrust. "I refused to go on one of those years ago."

"Only once you have gotten your answer will you be able to move past what is blocking you. Until then, the sha will have a direct access to your emotions, and they will destroy you."

"So you're telling me that I have no choice in the matter now."

"I am giving you the best advice you can. I cannot imagine what it is like to be ripped out of one's life and be allowed to go towards a peaceful rest, only to be pushed back into a dead body. But I think that it was a horrible experience for you to wake up that way. Had you asked her to do this?"

"Did I ask Sylvanas to raise me from undeath? No. And she had said time and again that she would never do that to me."

"So you are also feeling betrayed."

"I just never thought that she'd…"

Master Swiftpaw nodded, "Take the potion. It will not physically harm you."

"I'm not afraid of physical pain. I'm just afraid of what this quest is going to show me."

"You will not know until you try, will you?"

"I guess I don't have anything to lose, do I?" she whispered, reaching out to take the vial of potion from him. "Except maybe Sylvanas' love… I wish she were here."

"Perhaps once this is over, you can ask her to come."

"Maybe…" Faith uncorked the vial, closing her eyes. The yellow potion was clear, and looked like liquid sun rays filtering through summer trees. She could smell it too, a faint odor of sweet butter. Putting the vial to her lips, she swallowed its contents.

Immediately, her vision went black and she collapsed on the couch. Master Swiftpaw quickly helped her to a more comfortable position and waited, watching her and an hourglass that he had produced from one of his pockets.

* * *

Everything was dark. Faith wondered where she was. She tried to open her eyes, and to her surprise, she managed it. But what she saw nearly made her scream, except that she couldn't.

She was in Sylvanas' room at Windrunner Spire. She attempted to control her body, but an instant, later, she realized that she wasn't herself, not really. She was in bed, in Sylvanas' bed, and she could see blonde hair against the pillow her head was lying on… it wasn't her hair. The color was more golden. She would have been scared, except that the body she was in wasn't scared. No, it was… excited. She could feel the person's heartbeat as if it were her very own.

_Am I in Sylvanas' body?_

She got her answer a moment later when the body pulled the covers away and stood up. Faith caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror.

It was indeed Sylvanas' body that she was inhabiting. And she could hear Sylvanas' thoughts, thoughts from she had been alive. How this was possible, she couldn't fathom, but it was right there.

Sylvanas was thinking about her. About how her amber eyes glowed like the sun and how beautiful she was. She felt a strange tingle to her lips as an urge to kiss her came over her.

On the couch, Faith's hands jerked once, indicating her surprise. "Sylvanas…" she whispered.

Sylvanas was getting dressed, particularly careful about her attire, as she always was. She was going back to the Farstrider Enclave that day, but would be passing by Everstone Village, and so wanted to look her very best. She put on a deerskin tunic and leggings, both dark green in color, along with her polished brown ranger boots.

Moving to the mirror, she applied makeup to her face, although she knew she didn't need it. But she had to look perfect, there was no way around that fact. She was Ranger-General of Silvermoon, and even when she was in battle, she had to look her best. She chuckled, thinking that if she ever died, she would have to do so looking as perfect as possible.

She brushed her hair until it shone, knowing that she would pull it back under her hood but not caring.

_Faith loves your hair_ , she thought, shivering despite the warmth of the morning.  _She looks at it all the time._

Inside Sylvanas' body, Faith didn't know what to think. It was bizarre to hear Sylvanas thinking about her like that, to feel the thrum of her heartbeat stumbling a little at the mere image of her.

Sylvanas' hand slipped to her neck, and she fingered a spot there gently. Her mind raced with an image of Faith kissing her there and running her tongue over the pulsating artery. Faith could feel her wanting it.

_By the Light_ _…_  she thought, wishing she could materialize into this vision of Sylvanas and kiss her.

The vision moved on as Sylvanas suddenly arrived at Everstone Village, her heart fairly racing in her chest. Faith was momentarily disoriented, but got over it quickly as she recognized her home. Sylvanas was wondering how she could best surprise her, but just as she was about to make her way towards her house, Faith herself came out of a building.

Several things happened at once. In the vision, Sylvanas' heart practically stopped in her chest when she saw her. She hitched in a breath, hoping she looked bored. Faith, for her part, went very pale and nearly dropped the small bag she was carrying, a pale pink one with tassels.

_I forgot about that bag_ , Faith said to herself as the vision unfolded before her. The bag had been a present, and it had been her favorite until she'd tripped and dropped it into a puddle of mud, ruining it. Thanks to that, she figured that the vision was taking place a few years before the Scourge invasion, when things had still been simple.

"Faith Everstone," said Sylvanas quietly, keeping her hands steady by sheer force of will. "Fancy meeting you here."

"G-General…" whispered Faith. "What… what are you doing here? Is everything all right?"

"Of course it is." Sylvanas vaulted down from her horse, who wasn't Prince, but a magnificent chocolate-brown creature with kind eyes. "I was just on my way to the Enclave and thought it would be nice to pass here for lunch. Are you busy?"

"You want me to have lunch with you?" asked Faith, her voice squeaking on the last word.

"I do. Unless you've got plans with Baron Suncaller. I know he's had his eye on you."

Faith snorted to herself. Baron Suncaller had been one of the most ambitious people in Eversong Woods, and had indeed been after her because of her friendship with Sylvanas. He had been handsome before the Scourge had ripped him apart, but he hadn't been a kind person.

"You know better than to think that I would ever have anything to do with that person."

Sylvanas chuckled, "I know no such thing."

"Yes you do. My parents keep trying invite him for dinner, and I'm terrified that one day, he'll ask a question I don't want to hear."

"You're afraid he'll…" Sylvanas' voice trailed off. She absolutely hated the idea of Faith and someone – anyone – being together. She didn't belong with Baron Suncaller, she belonged with her, and nobody else. But she couldn't say that to Faith, so she grinned.

"Don't make fun of me!" cried Faith.

"You're too easy, kiddo," she said, ruffling her hair. Had she not trained herself to memorize Faith's reactions, she would have missed the fleeting look of dismay on her face when she did that. "In any case, I don't think your parents will just agree to marry you off like that. Ravenna's not married yet, and neither are your brothers."

"So you think that they'll have to get married first before they let me do the same?"

"Unless you fell in love, yes. You don't need to worry about it." Sylvanas looked her in the eye, "Are you in love?"

"Of course not!" she cried out quickly – too quickly. "Who would I be in love with anyway?"

The vision faded, everything turning black for a moment before picking up again. Sylvanas was now in a large jewelry shop looking at rings. Faith gasped within Sylvanas' mind...

_She's picking out the engagement ring..._

It was right there, sitting on a black velvet cushion, seeming to beckon Sylvanas closer.

Sylvanas, for her part, was feeling slightly sick and wanted nothing more than to run away.

_What am I doing here? How could I be thinking about buying this? I can't marry her! Our families will never allow it!_

A part of Sylvanas' subconscious spoke up.  _You're Ranger-General._

_My family doesn't care about that! They'll exile me! And Faith's parents will kill her!_

She felt tears forming and closed her eyes to keep them from falling.

_I love you so much, Faith. So much. I want us to be together forever. I would die for you if I needed to. And I can't tell you. I hate that I can't tell you_ _…_

Faith felt Sylvanas' love. It was physically painful for Sylvanas to feel the way she did, and she wanted to laugh, and she wanted to cry, and she wanted to scream her feelings to the world. But she couldn't. Instead, there she was, buying an engagement ring that she would probably never have the chance to give.

"Are you sure you want to buy this, General?" asked the shopkeeper as he put the ring in a box for her.

Sylvanas nodded. "Yes… yes, I'm sure. I'm very sure." She paid for the ring, a sum so exorbitant that Faith knew she was going to call her out on it the next time they saw each other, if she ever got out of the vision.

A few minutes later, Sylvanas left the shop and made her way back to Sunfury Spire, her heart heavy. She should have been feeling happy. She had just bought an  _engagement ring_. For  _Faith_. She should have been smiling and hugging random strangers in the street to share her happiness.

But instead, she ran to her quarters, locking the door behind her, and bursting into tears the moment she was alone.

The vision went dark again, and even before it came back, Faith knew what it was going to be. She felt Sylvanas' complete terror before the scene materialized before her very eyes. She tried to scream, but couldn't. She wanted to wake up, but the vision, she knew, was going to play itself out until the very end.

There was screaming. The stench in the air was unbearable. The smell of burning bodies and decomposing flesh.

A girl fighting for her life against a Scourge general, her robes in tatters and her blonde hair covered in blood and grime.

Sylvanas gave a horrified cry and urged Prince forward, grabbing Faith and pulling her up before she could jump into the black flames she'd conjured next to herself.

_Oh_ _…_ _my Faith_ _…_ _you're alive, my darling, you're alive_ _…_

Holding on to Faith as tightly as she could, she raced forward, moving quickly, gathering survivors. Faith's arms were on her, gripping tightly. She was shaking.

The horse stopped and Sylvanas helped Faith down from him.

Faith couldn't even recognize herself through Sylvanas' eyes. She was gaunt, her skin so pale it nearly glowed. There were huge circles under her eyes, and her lips were white. She looked like a ghost

Sylvanas took her to the first tent that had been erected and called for some hot water. A few minutes later, she had peeled the clothes from Faith's body and was bathing her slowly, using a cloth. Faith wasn't even moving.

"It's going to be all right, Faith," she whispered. "I don't know how, but it will be, I promise."

Amber eyes found her face. A tear rolled down Faith's cheek. "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…" whispered Sylvanas, wrapping her in one of her cloaks and holding her. She couldn't understand how things had gotten so bad so quickly. It was her fault. She had brought this upon her people. Upon her love.

Faith wrapped herself around her, "I'm never leaving you," she whispered.

Sylvanas closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, the vision had changed.

_No! No!_

Faith tried to struggle against this vision. She didn't want it. Didn't want to see that moment. But she couldn't stop it.

"I'm not leaving you!" she cried in the vision. Tears poured down her face. "I swore I'd never leave you."

Sylvanas clenched her jaw, trying not to fall to pieces where she was. She knew what she was going to do, and it hurt. It hurt her so much to know that it was all over. She and Faith would never be married. They would never be able to share their love together.

Pulling Faith aside, Sylvanas wiped her cheeks gently, "Listen to me. I will always be with you, no matter what happens. No matter what Arthas does to me, I will always love you." She began to cry too, "I want us to be together – if I could, I'd run away with you now and we wouldn't have to worry about anything else. But, baby, you know I can't do that. It's too bad here now."

"Sylvanas, no… if anything happens to you…"

"Then you will move on."

"No!"

"Yes. You'll move on, and be happy and remember all the times we spent together. It will hurt, yes, but you're going to be fine. I know you, and I believe in you. You'll make it through this. Promise me that you won't give up if something happens to me." She wrapped her arms around her, "Promise me, Faith!" Her heart was breaking.

"Nothing's going to happen to you… I promise."

"Oh, Faith…" Sylvanas kissed her. Tears ran down her cheeks as she poured all of her love into it, holding Faith close, her heart unable to figure out whether it wanted to shatter in her chest or leap joyfully.

"I love you," said Faith. "I love you so much, my general."

"I love you, Faith." Another kiss, a more gentle one, "Please remember that, always."

Moments later, Faith was leaving on Prince, but before Sylvanas even had the time to feel any form of despair, she returned. Feeling stricken and knowing her life was about to end, she looked at her incredulously. "Faith!"

Faith pulled her vine ring off her finger and took Sylvanas' left hand, placing the ring on her wedding finger and kissing it. "Always," she whispered before leaving for good this time.

Sylvanas turned to face Arthas, and images flashed through her mind. She saw the future she had always wanted with Faith, one where they lived in a cozy house together, their love so intense it couldn't be contained.

Memories washed over her as he thrust Frostmourne into her chest. Memories of Faith's smile. Faith's eyes. Her laughter. Her smell. Her love.

Faith was with her when she died.

* * *

Faith screamed, jerking to consciousness. She sat up and landed right into someone's strong arms. She kept screaming, dusty tears running down her cheeks.

"Shh. I'm here, my love. I'm right here." Cold lips found hers, kissing softly. "I'm here."

"Sylvanas…"

"I know."

"I love you."

"I love you. Always, Faith."

"I love you…" she whispered again, burying her head against Sylvanas' neck. "I love you."


	43. Chapter 43

The room was empty, save for the two of them. Faith was trying to speak, but she couldn't, her mind consumed with the visions she had seen.

Sylvanas lay on the couch with her, her fingers tracing gentle patterns on her arms while she waited for her to calm down. Every once in a while, she pressed a kiss to her temple, murmuring softly.

"You're here," whispered Faith after minutes of silence.

"Of course I'm here. You needed me."

"I didn't think you'd come."

Sylvanas pressed her hand against the side of Faith's face so that she would look at her, "Did you not see enough to determine just how much I love you? I would never leave you alone at a time like this. Besides, you wanted me here, even before then." She chuckled, "A vision quest, I ask you. What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking that I've felt very confused ever since you raised me, and I'm still having a difficult time understanding what was going through your mind when you did that."

"And you thought you needed a reminder of how I felt about you when I was alive?" Sylvanas rubbed her leg against her body, squeezing her tighter in her arms.

"I… I don't know."

Gentle kisses traced their way down Faith's ear, "What do you feel now?"

"I can't say…"

Sylvanas' tone turned defensive, "What do you mean you can't say?"

Faith put a placating hand on Sylvanas' thigh, "I mean I don't know how to explain what I'm feeling right now."

"Try."

Waiting a moment, Faith chose her words before she began to speak, "I love you. I don't think that's strong enough to describe what I'm really feeling for you, but it's all I have. I love you. I've loved you since I was a little girl, and that hasn't changed. Seeing that… knowing what you felt and what you were thinking… I don't know, Sylvanas, I really don't. You died for me."

"You already knew that."

"I never realized that you had died with the intention of having me survive."

"I never wanted to leave you. If you truly felt everything I did, then you know that."

Faith nodded, "I do. I know you wanted me to live but…"

"You didn't ask me to sacrifice myself for you. Believe me, I know that. And I remember the promise that you made, the one where you said that you'd never leave my side again."

"But you already knew then that you were going to die."

"It was a possibility, and the moment Arthas breached the first defenses into Quel'Thalas, I had a feeling that it would end that way."

Faith tried to press herself closer to Sylvanas.

"What are you trying to do, fuse our bodies together?" asked the latter, sounding amused now.

"Yes. Come closer to me."

Sylvanas accommodated Faith as best she could, "Do you feel better?"

"I don't like being away from you. Even when we fight, I want us to be together." Faith kissed her jaw.

"Sometimes, we need to be apart for the good of others."

"I don't care about the others, I care about you. Caring about other people keeps us apart."

Sylvanas allowed Faith the moment of selfishness. "It's not easy to be away from those you love. But doesn't it make the reunion sweeter?"

"Not if it's short-lived," said Faith.

"Ah, but we can make the most of our time together." Sylvanas moved until she was on top of Faith, facing her, "We can show the sha a thing or two about our own emotions, what do you say?"

Faith smiled, "I didn't take the potion today…"

"That's all right, I have some here." Sylvanas kissed her, pulling a vial from her pocket and uncorking it without breaking their kiss. Pulling up briefly, she poured a few drops of potion into Faith's mouth before kissing her again.

Faith made a delicious sound of need, arching her back, "Oh… we can't… not here."

"Why not?"

"Temple… it would be like making love in Light's Hope Chapel."

"Now there's something you and I haven't done. We should think about it."

"Sylvanas!"

"Oh, don't sound so scandalized. I know what's going on in your mind right this second." She kissed her and pitched her voice low, "How you want me inside you. Caressing you… making you climax over and over again…"

"Sylvanas…"

"Yes?"

"Stop."

A gentle kiss, "Are you sure?"

"Please."

"All right." Sylvanas got off her so quickly that Faith's body nearly went into shock from the sudden emptiness.

"Whoa… you don't have to go that far away."

Sylvanas looked at the inch of space between their bodies, raising her eyebrows, "Sometimes I wonder what you would do if you and I were truly separated forever."

"I think we both know what I would do."

"If I were really killed? Yes, you would do the same thing I would do if anything else happened to you."

Faith touched Sylvanas lightly, "How long are you staying with me this time?"

"How long do you need me to stay for?"

"Forever."

"I walked right into that one," muttered Sylvanas. "I should technically go home tomorrow."

Not by a flicker of a muscle did Faith betray her dismay at the thought of Sylvanas leaving her so quickly. But her thoughts must have given her away, because Sylvanas put a hand on her face.

"Faith, my love."

Faith kissed her hand and got to her feet, "I'd like to visit the temple with you, if that's okay."

"Of course it's okay." She got up as well, walking to Faith and putting an arm around her waist, "You know, you can tell me when you're feeling hurt."

"You have direct access to my thoughts and feelings."

"I do, but I'm not constantly in your mind."

"Yes you are."

Sylvanas looked at her, smiling, "All right, so you're almost always thinking about me. But I'm not reading your thoughts all the time. If I did, I'd have very little time for anything else. I think enough about you as it is."

"Do you? Really?"

The way she spoke at that moment transported Sylvanas back to their early days in Quel'Thalas when Faith had been so skittish around her, "How do you think I knew that you needed me? It was like… I could feel your heart calling to mine from across the world."

Faith had no idea how to respond to that. She could only look at her, her eyes wide.

Sylvanas pulled her closer and walked out of the room with her, finding Master Swiftpaw there with Garia.

"Is everything okay?" asked Garia, looking at Faith and wondering whether or not to burst into laughter. "Did you break her?"

"She's all right," replied Sylvanas. "She just needed a few moments with me, that's all."

"I suppose I would feel the same way if I'd seen what she saw. We heard her screaming all the way across the grounds."

Master Swiftpaw nodded, "Sometimes, vision quests show us our most painful memories."

Sylvanas glanced at him, "Except that they weren't her memories. She saw mine, and I'm wondering how that happened. Would you not have needed something of mine to make that happen?"

"Her connection to you must be exceptionally strong for her to see things through your eyes."

"We've always been close."

"In all my years of helping people through these quests, I have never seen someone share another person's memories. Even husbands and wives do not have that kind of connection."

"I raised her into undeath. Maybe that's why our connection is so strong."

"Perhaps. But would you be willing to try it as well?"

Try it? Go through her own vision quest and see life through Faith's eyes?

"Absolutely not," said Faith. She looked into Sylvanas' eyes, "Look, I don't want you to go through that."

"You think I can't handle it?"

" _I_  couldn't handle it! You already know how I feel anyway."

"Not completely."

"Yes, completely. You just told me that you felt me calling to you, all the way from Undercity. Sylvanas, I… it was too much for me, reliving that. The moment you died with my name in your heart… I can't watch you go through the same thing. I'm not afraid of what you'll discover. I just don't want you in that kind of pain."

Sylvanas kissed Faith's lips softly, "You're afraid of seeing me hurt."

"So what if I am? You've been hurt too much in your life."

"Pain is a part of life, and it's certainly a part of death. You shouldn't be afraid of it."

"I'm not afraid of pain for myself. I just don't want  _you_  to be hurt. Not again."

Sylvanas gently pulled her aside, "I know, Faith. I can't stand either to know that you're in pain. Had I gotten here sooner, I would have stopped you from going through this."

"So you understand why I don't want you to do it?"

"And you understand why I want to. I need to, baby. You got an insight of my love for you. It's only fair that you let me do the same."

Faith's eyes filled with dusty tears and she blinked several times to keep them at bay, "But you already know how much I love you… why would reliving my grief help?"

"Because you know what's in my cold, unforgiving heart. I want to know what's in yours." She put a finger to Faith's lips, "Yes, I know what you're thinking. But the way you felt, that's something else."

Master Swiftpaw walked over to them, "You may not experience the same thing she did. Your visions may be wholly different than Faith's. I just want you to know that before you decide to do this."

"Understood," said Sylvanas, accepting a vial from him. "Thank you."

Faith led her back inside, lying with her on the couch and holding her as she poured the contents of the vial into her mouth.

Sylvanas could feel herself anchored to Faith. But her mind was elsewhere, in a dark world of anguish. Here and there, blinding white lights dotted the landscape, and as she got closer to them, they coalesced into a world she had known. Quel'Thalas.

But it was a different Quel'Thalas than she remembered. The trees were a more vibrant green than she'd ever seen, and a little sparser in this part of the realm. The air was fresh and clean, with the tangy scent of salt indicating that she was close to the sea. Feeling perplexed, tried to move, but couldn't, and remembered that she wasn't in her body, but in Faith's.

_It doesn't feel like a memory_ , she said to herself as Faith bent down to pick a wildflower, completing the bouquet already in her hand. Her blonde hair cascaded forward, pure and pale gold.

She began to walk forward, wanting to hurry, to get back home to her love.

She reached a village a few minutes later, and with a shock, Sylvanas realized that it was Goldenmist Village, which was actually overrun by angry ghosts. But this village, in Faith's mind, was  _alive_. Pure. People saw her and waved, happily calling out to her, and she felt herself responding in Faith's voice.

She kept walking, and soon arrived at a house that was a little outside the village. It was large, with two towers on either side of it, and an enclosure around it made of polished golden wood. A couple of pure white lynxes lounged there, but got up as soon as Faith stepped onto the property. They ran to her, and Sylvanas felt alarmed for a second, but Faith wasn't worried. Kneeling, she caught the two cats in her arms, cuddling them.

"Hello, my darlings," she said.

The front door opened, and Sylvanas saw herself walking out of the house, long blonde hair falling to her waist and catching the light. Faith's heart, it had to be said, fairly leapt out of her chest. She stood up and ran to Sylvanas, who caught her and spun her around. They kissed.

Sharing Faith's experience, Sylvanas didn't quite know what to think about being kissed by her own self. It was a bizarre thing, or it would have been had Faith's emotions not felt like an overactive volcano. Her skin tingled, her heart thudded behind its ribcage, and her breath was stolen away.

"I love you," the two of them said together.

Sylvanas led Faith inside the house, and the two lynxes followed, lying down in the hallway next to each other. Putting the flowers in a vase in the kitchen, Faith turned to face her wife.

_Wife… we're married in this vision…_

She started feeling incredibly sad, knowing that this vision would never come to pass. That she was looking at Faith's most sacred wish.

Faith's love was a physical burn deep within her chest. Something tangible that seemed to pour out of her, reaching towards Sylvanas like golden tendrils made of sunlight. Her heart pounded rhythmically they watched each other for a moment, content to just stay there a little while.

It gave Sylvanas plenty of time to analyze the room around herself. It was cozy, with a painting of them hanging on the wall, although she couldn't turn her head to examine it further.

Faith took a few steps towards Sylvanas, who didn't move, merely standing there, waiting for her to get to her. She finally reached her, and they kissed again, passionately enough for Faith to moan and slip her hand beneath Sylvanas' shirt, cupping her breast gently.

"Greedy," hissed Sylvanas against her mouth.

"I've been needing you all day," whispered Faith, pushing her back against the counter and pressing herself against her.

The vision darkened, and Sylvanas was suddenly back in the blackness dotted with the white lights. One of them suddenly opened, and she found herself in the Undercity throne room. Temporarily disoriented, it took Sylvanas a while to remember the moment before her, seen through Faith's eyes.

The first time she had seen her as a banshee.

Faith's mind was chaos. Memories flashed through her mind like a wildfire, but faded so quickly she couldn't hold on to any of them. All she could do was stare at the undead woman before her. Undead. Monstrous.

_She's dead… she's really dead… They raised her into this thing. She'll never be alive again. She died for me. We will never share our love together. She's dead. Dead. Dead. Gone. By the Sunwell, I really lost her, how can that be possible that she's really gone… dead…_

It was like a constant stream of horror, one that lasted less than a minute, although each second felt like an eternity. Before her, Sylvanas stared, unflinching. Uncaring.

Oh, but she remembered the day she had seen Faith again. It had taken all of her self-control not to lose herself. She hadn't wanted her there, it was true, but part of her hadn't been wholly insensible to what Faith had been going through.

In the throne room, Faith was trying to keep herself from screaming. She welcomed the engulfing blackness when she fainted.

Sylvanas' time in the dark didn't last long. Almost immediately, she was pushed into another bright light where another memory shone through. A memory of Faith watching her riding down the beach on a Quel'Thalas steed, before she'd started riding horses. Faith's heart pounded so fast that it hurt. She put a hand to her chest as she watched her, imagining what it would be like to run her fingers through her blonde hair and needing her so much she almost couldn't breathe.

_Oh, Sylvanas… I love you. I love you so much._

Faith couldn't have been more than twenty in this memory.

_She first started caring about you when she was twelve years old. Of course her feelings would have turned to love shortly after that, considering how intense her emotions used to be._

She would have chuckled if she could have. But all she could do was sit there in Faith's body and watch the memory unfolding before her. It was nothing special, that memory. It held no particular significance to Sylvanas. But it obviously did to Faith.

She watched herself riding down the beach and dismount a couple of feet away from Faith, the steed sprinting away playfully and running towards the water. A few minutes later. Sylvanas sat next to her, kicking off her shoes and pulling off her sweaty socks.

_I'll be damned for the rest of eternity if I can figure out why my taking off dirty socks is a treasured memory for her…_ she thought as Faith's heart leapt at the sight of her toes. Or, more particularly, at the fact that she was wearing sparkling polish on them, the same one that matched the one on her fingernails.

Faith wanted to touch her. It was so strong, that Sylvanas thought she was going to give in to it. She could have fainted from the need, but she did nothing about it, merely staring, memorizing everything about her from the curve of her calf to the way her she looked when she pulled the cloak from her shoulders…

Sylvanas opened her eyes suddenly, a need that wasn't her own coursing through her veins. Faith sat beside her, holding her hand and looking very worried.

"Sylvanas," she whispered.

"I'm okay," said Sylvanas in a low voice. She looked at Faith, and it hit her again, that she was dead, that she had raised her into undeath for her own selfish reasons.

Faith put a gentle hand on her face, her skin cold as ice, "Are you sure you're okay?"

A nod as she sat up, "Why did seeing my toes excite you?"

"What?" the look on Faith's face became completely confused.

"I just saw one of your memories where I was riding down the beach, then I came to sit next to you and took off my boots and socks. Why was that so significant for you?"

"Oh, that…" Faith bit her lip to keep from smiling. "That's one of the memories I go to when things are really bad. It's not you taking off your shoes and socks that get to me. It's that it was a completely normal moment. You rode down the beach looking like a queen, then you simply sat down next to me. I wanted you so badly, you can't even… wait, did you feel that?"

"You wanting me? Oh yes, I felt it. How did you keep from spontaneously combusting?"

Faith chuckled, "Years of practice, I guess." She sobered, lifting her gaze to meet Sylvanas', "That day was the first time I realized that I was in love with you. Not the teenager-crush kind of love, but real love."

Sylvanas nodded, "The kind that hurts, yes. I felt that love in another memory. Except it wasn't a memory."

"What do you mean? What did you see?"

She told her, and Faith's eyes widened so much that it was almost comical.

"You… you saw…"

"The sanctuary you built in your mind for us. Yes, I saw it. White lynxes?"

"I figured I might as well have something worthwhile in there."

"I'm not worthwhile enough?" asked Sylvanas, pretending to be hurt.

Faith came closer to her, "You're worth everything to me." She kissed her briefly, closing her eyes. "Everything."

Sylvanas put an arm around her waist, pulling at her until she was sitting in her lap, straddling her. "I love you. I've loved you since… I don't know exactly, but it's been a while. I didn't mean to, but you got under my skin." She pressed her forehead against Faith's, "I raised you from the dead…"

"Shh, baby, you don't have to talk about that."

"No, I do. We need to talk about what happened. Why I did it."

"I know why you did it."

"I was selfish. Had I loved you the way you deserved to be loved, I would have let you go. But I couldn't. It wasn't until you were right there, slipping away, that I realized just how much I loved you, and how much I needed to be with you. I took you for granted. Your love for me… it's been there for so long that I've grown used to it, and I expect it to be there all the time, even when it irritates me sometimes."

She paused, running her fingers over one of Faith's tapered ears. Faith shuddered, her toes curling.

"I'm sorry about that. I'm sorry that I never appreciated how much you loved me. How much you suffered when you forced yourself to stay away from me. And how you died inside when Arthas killed me."

"Sylvanas…"

She pressed her lips to Faith's, "I'm sorry, sweetheart. I should have been there more."

"Stop, baby, please." Faith took her face in both her hands, stroking the skin there lightly with her thumbs, "We're all a little selfish when it comes to love. But you were there. You came for me every time I was in trouble. When the scourged worgen kidnapped me, when we had to save the twins in Scholomance, when I was taken to Naxxramas… Sylvanas, you came for me. Nobody else would have come for me, they would have let the Scourge kill me."

"Of course I came for you…"

"I've just been a little conflicted since you… since Garrosh killed me."

"I haven't done a very good job of showing you how much I love you."

"Yes you have. I've just been ungrateful."

"Are you kidding me?" Sylvanas looked at her, "Nobody loves me the way you do. You even forgave me when I kissed Cindera."

Faith closed her eyes, "You mean when she kissed you. There's a big difference there. She initiated it, and you pushed her away. You didn't go to her, she came to you, and you didn't accept her."

Sylvanas closed her eyes, "You really do forgive me for that?"

"It wasn't your fault, it was hers. You should have told me about it yourself rather than have me find out while I was inside Icecrown Citadel, but that's in the past." Faith brushed a lock of brittle hair from her forehead, "You still feel guilty over that?"

"There are a great many things I feel guilty about, and all of them involve you."

Faith locked her eyes with her, "You don't need to feel guilty. Not anymore. About anything."

"Even about not accepting your proposal?"

"I thought we agreed that we didn't need a piece of paper to tell us that we were together?"

"We don't."

"Well then, you don't need to feel guilty. I love you. You love me. That's enough."

"Is it?"

Faith leaned towards Sylvanas, her kiss searing. Sylvanas wrapped both her arms around Faith and kissed her back, their tongues mingling and sending shocks up and down their bodies. "Oh… yes. It truly is…"


	44. Chapter 44

Night was falling. The birds that had been singing all day were starting to go to sleep, and the flowers were slowly closing, ending their day with a sweet fragrance that still lingered in the air.

Faith and Sylvanas walked hand-in-hand through the grounds, keeping to the shadows and stopping every once in a while to share a slow kiss. The fourth time this happened, Faith slid her hand down Sylvanas' body, coming to rest just between her legs. Sylvanas' hips moved gently forward.

"Are you sure you're ready for that?" she asked, her voice husky with need.

"I miss you," whispered Faith.

Sylvanas smiled a little, "You know I'm always with you, don't you? Always."

"Always," repeated Faith. "Make love to me. Please."

"Here? Someone could see us."

Faith wrapped a leg around Sylvanas' hip, pulling her closer, "I don't care. Let them see us." She kissed her, and Sylvanas responded immediately, pushing her back against the trunk of a willow tree.

She took her time, undressing Faith as slowly as she could, kissing every inch of skin as soon as it was exposed. Faith opened her mouth, wanting to scream, but Sylvanas pressed her hand against her lips, silencing her.

"You taste different," murmured Sylvanas, running her tongue across Faith's abdomen. "I taste death on you. Do you taste it on me?"

Faith nodded once, unable to speak. Her legs shook when Sylvanas licked inside her, and she would have gasped had she had breath in her body. As it was, she couldn't think the words to form a coherent thought, but let out a low moan of pleasure as she felt Sylvanas' fingers exactly where she needed them.

Their lovemaking was slow. Sensual. A seduction of the senses that awoke a new passion within them. Faith's ecstasy reached its peak, and as she came, she whispered her love for her queen, her soulmate, her everything. Sylvanas absorbed Faith's love, unraveling in her arms as she begged her for more, more.

There was more beneath the branches of the willow that shielded them from unwanted eyes. Unbidden magic swirled around them, hiding them further until they were gorged on each other, left only with the power to kiss lazily.

"You know there's no way I'm letting you leave, right?" asked Faith after a few minutes of silence.

Sylvanas laughed softly, running her hand through Faith's inky hair, "You could come back with me."

"Don't tempt me, you fiend."

"Oh,  _I'm_  the fiend. You're the one who asked me to make love to you."

"I don't remember you objecting."

"Objecting, that's a good one." Sylvanas kissed the hollow of Faith's throat, "How do you feel?"

"Like I won't be able to get up for days." She smiled, "I love you."

"I love you, Faith." A kiss. "Now, come on, get up. We should get back to our hosts." Sylvanas got to her feet, her body nearly glowing in the moonlight that filtered through the leaves of the willow tree.

"What you should do is come back here so that we can make love again. We have time to make up for."

"We do. And we will make up for it when you get home."

"That could be months!" cried Faith.

"We've been away from each other that long before."

"I don't want us apart."

Sylvanas pulled Faith to her feet, brushing a few strands of grass clinging to her skin, "I don't want us apart either. I hate it when we're not together. It's been worse lately with everything that's happened. But I know that you're more than capable of managing without me, and I'm capable of managing without you. Most of the time."

"That doesn't mean I like it."

Sylvanas smiled a little, getting dressed before helping Faith with her clothes, "I know you don't like it. But we have to deal with it. It'll be okay."

"I can't say goodbye to you, Sylvanas, not again…" Faith's voice broke and she wrapped her arms around her lover, closing her eyes. Sylvanas allowed her one minute before she pulled away, her eyes stern.

"Hey, come on. You know better than to act like that."

Faith relented, "All right. But that used to thaw you."

Sylvanas gave a chuckle, "You always tried to get me to stay by giving me those beaten puppy eyes. You made it that much harder for me to leave you every damn time."

"Maybe you should have stayed."

"And scandalized your family?" She smoothed down Faith's hair, "You ready?"

"I guess…"

They walked back towards the temple, where the monks were having dinner. The smells coming from the dining hall made both the undead elves wish they were alive.

"It's a good thing I don't get hungry anymore, or I think I'd devour that," said Sylvanas, wrapping an arm around Faith.

"I should have thought that you'd sated your hunger just now," whispered Garia, who was standing nearby.

Faith glanced at her, "I wasn't aware that you were into voyeurism, Garia."

"I'm not. I was taking a walk and happened to see you two, so I left."

"And she made sure that nobody went that way," said Master Swiftpaw, taking a bite of bread.

"I'm sorry," said Sylvanas. "We meant no disrespect."

"The Jade Serpent would approve of your love. It is strange. Most people feel that the undead cannot love anymore. Yet, the two of you seem to love each other more than my own parents do, and I did not think anybody could do that."

Faith smiled, "Your parents?" she asked.

"Oh yes. My parents love each other very much. They do not show it in public out of respect for others, but when they are alone… they are like you two. I do not know what will happen when one of them dies." He looked at them, "Not everyone is so lucky to find a soulmate in the short time granted to us in this world."

"That's true," said Sylvanas. "Faith and I are luckier than most in that respect."

"I would say that you are blessed. Whether it is by gods or some other force, I cannot say, but I think that your love is definitely a blessing."

Faith leaned against Sylvanas, trying not to show more affection to her. But Sylvanas felt it, squeezing her closer. "This is the first time that anybody has called us blessed in any way."

Yuki, who was eating as well, smiled, but didn't say anything. Suddenly, she stilled, cocking her head to the side.

"What is it?" asked Sylvanas.

"I feel it too," said Master Swiftpaw. "It's the sha."

"Here?" cried Faith. "Sylvanas, you have to go.  _Now._ "

"I'm not going anywhere."

"Sylvanas, the sha can –."

"Stop worrying about me, baby, I'm fine."

A couple of pandaren came running in, looking agitated. "Outside!" one of them cried.

Faith moved away from Sylvanas, drawing her spellblade while Sylvanas drew her sword. "You'll be more efficient with a bow, if you're going to insist on fighting." She moved her hands in a complicated way, murmuring a quiet spell. Her fingers began to glow blue and white as she traced patterns in the air. A couple of minutes later, a magnificent bow appeared in her hands, along with a quiver of twelve arrows.

Sylvanas stared at her, stunned, "You and your conjuring. You keep getting better."

Faith smiled, "It won't last long, you know. Maybe ten minutes."

"I hope we won't need that long."

They ran outside, but saw no sha in the immediate vicinity.

"They're at the main gate!" cried someone.

A battle was already going on by the time Faith and Sylvanas got there. Sylvanas immediately drew an arrow and fired, sending magical blue sparks flying in every direction. The arrow hit the sha in its open mouth and exploded in a shower of blue flame, decimating it.

"Well, that was a gorgeous shot," said Faith.

Sylvanas wanted to smile, but she was busy nocking another arrow to her bow. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Faith beginning to cast several spells, splitting the ground open with magical fire. Her hands were aglow again, and when she was done, there was a wide space between the sha and the Jade Serpent monks. She picked off another one of them with an arrow, and another.

Other arrows began to fly as pandaren archers took their aim. Faith used several spells to make them more efficient, and pretty soon, they had dispatched the elemental creatures.

"They will be back," said Master Swiftpaw. "This was a small attack, nothing like what I think they are capable of." He looked at Faith, "Can you fix the ground?"

Faith gave a nod and waved her hand once. It glowed sandy brown this time as she summoned piles of earth from nearby to fill the hole. "I learned that little trick from the tauren in Thunder Bluff."

"You can perform shamanic magic?" asked Sylvanas. She sounded surprised.

"No. I'm not conjuring the earth, just summoning it from other areas."

"What's the difference?" wondered Garia.

"Well, I can conjure fire out of thin air," said Faith, who was suddenly holding a sparkling flame in the palm of her hand. "I can do the same with water, or, more appropriately with ice, but I'm afraid that my forte isn't frost magic. I can't conjure any other elements, but shaman are able to do that without any issues. Not only can they conjure the elements, but they can control them as well. I can only control fire with absolute certainty. And even that's not natural fire, but magical one."

"I didn't know you had learned to summon the earth, though," said Sylvanas.

"I never tried it until today. Splitting the earth open with magic is easy. I've never tried resealing it before, though. I hope it holds."

"No reason why it shouldn't," said Sylvanas, "since you're using magic to keep the earth in place. I've never known your spells to fail."

"Still, it might be prudent to make sure," said Faith to Master Swiftpaw.

"That will be easily done. Thank you for your help with the sha. I know that they will return, and soon, because your people are affecting them."

"There's a battle brewing between the Horde and the Alliance," said Faith. "I wish it wasn't, because I really don't want to affect Pandaria more than we already have. I made a promise to Taran Zhu, and I mean to keep it, but it's not like our people are making it easy."

"Why are the Horde and Alliance so set against each other?"

Sylvanas laughed, "That's a question that would take days to answer fully. Let's just say that our races hate each other. Although technically, Faith and I  _were_  members of the Alliance of Lordaeron. Or rather, we were friendly with them."

"Until we all got killed and raised, and the Alliance wanted to reclaim Lordaeron for itself instead of letting us have it," Faith shook her head at Master Swiftpaw. "There are too many stories. Too many things have happened, wrongs on both sides, although for now I think that the Horde holds first prize in the atrocities category. Or rather, Garrosh does."

Master Swiftpaw stationed sentinels at every entrance to the Jade Temple Grounds, and instructed them to be on guard in case something else went wrong, after which he walked back to the temple with everyone else.

"What will you do now, Faith? Have you found what you were searching for?"

"Here, you mean?" she asked. "I suppose I have, although I didn't know what it was I was looking for."

"Me," said Sylvanas, watching as the bow Faith had crafted disintegrated into her hands, leaving behind the warm caress of magic. Of Faith's magic.

"I'm always looking for you. I just didn't think I was going to find you here."

Desire stirred deep within Sylvanas' chest, but she quenched it with a thought. "What  _will_  you be doing now?"

"Well, General Nazgrim has appointed me as Ambassador of the Horde to the Pandaren, so I guess that I need to move on and go somewhere else soon. Maybe visit some of the other temples in the area and see what's going on there."

"That sounds like a good idea. You would meet plenty of people on the way. But might I make a suggestion?"

Faith nodded, "Of course, Master Swiftpaw."

"You should go to the Valley of the Four Winds. There are no temples there, but it is home to the Halfhill Market, and people from all over Pandaria go there to trade. It is a busy place, and I am certain that people would be happy to have you around. After all, they are as curious about you as you are about them."

Faith looked at Sylvanas, "What do you think?"

"That it's your decision to make, and you certainly don't need me to tell you what to do." She brushed a lock of Faith's hair off her forehead, "Besides, I think that you've already made your decision. You just want me to feel useful so that I won't leave you."

"You  _are_  useful," muttered Faith.

"Not here. As a matter of fact, I'm only distracting you, so I'll go earlier so that you can be on your way."

The look on Faith's face was one of dismay, "You said you'd stay until morning…"

"I did. And it's okay."

Faith looked down, but Sylvanas immediately put a finger under her chin, "You're not going to do this every time, are you? Because that's going to get old quick."

Faith licked her lips, "You know how new Forsaken hate leaving Undercity because they don't want to be away from you?"

"Sure."

"That's how I feel now. Only it's worse." She glimpsed a sign of irritation in Sylvanas' eyes, "Hey, you're the one who told me to let you know when I was hurting."

"Yes, and I want you to keep telling me that." She placed her hand over where Faith's heart had beaten in life, "You know I'm always with you, and you also know exactly what to do now. The plan formed in your mind the moment Master Swiftpaw mentioned the market. You're going to go there, see what's what, and you'll be on your way again. Try not to get drawn into the war. I don't want you in it."

"Garrosh does."

"Leave Garrosh to me, and keep doing what you've always done."

"Working with the Alliance against a common enemy?"

Sylvanas smiled, "Working for peace." Leaning over, she kissed her gently, "I'll see you later."

"When?"

"Soon."

_That's too long_ , thought Faith. Sylvanas smiled, pressing their foreheads together.

"Soon," she repeated.

_I love you, Sylvanas_.

Sylvanas kissed her again, "Could you make a portal for me?"

"Of course." Murmuring softly, still in the confines of Sylvanas' embrace, Faith summoned a portal to Undercity. It took all of her self-control not to go through it with her when the time came. She watched her go, and watched the portal slowly close behind her, leaving her alone.

"You miss her already, don't you?" asked Garia.

"I missed her the moment I saw her." Faith blinked quickly three times, "I suppose we should get ready to go. There's no sense in lingering here since I don't think anybody's going to come with us to the Valley of the Four Winds."

Garia nodded. She turned to go, then paused, "What's it like?"

"What's what like?"

"Knowing that she loves you so completely that she would cross the world to be with you when you need her."

Faith gave a small smile, "It's great. You remember when you were alive, and you took your first big breath of fresh air for the day? It's like that. When I see her, I feel alive again. Complete. But there's always an undercurrent of loss, because I know that she and I will be separated again."

"At least you know that you're going to see her again soon."

"I know no such thing. I could be killed again tomorrow. Or Sylvanas could be. Many things could happen to keep us apart forever."

"Okay, sure, but you know for certain that she loves you."

"Yes, I do."

Garia looked at her, but said nothing. After a while, she went out to get their mounts. By the time Faith walked back outside, having bid goodbye to the monks, Winter was saddled and waiting for her.

They were on their way several minutes later, riding off into the night. Emi wasn't with them, having decided to stay at the temple for the time being. Faith was thinking about what she had learned at the temple, and how it would help her against the sha.

_You already know_ , said a voice that wasn't entirely her own.

But the voice was right. She knew.

She had felt Sylvanas' love for her again, and as evidenced by the way they'd handled the small attack against the temple, it had helped her pull more positive emotions to the surface. She remembered suddenly that Lorewalker Cho had said that he would meet her there, but she hadn't seen him.

"It's odd that the lorewalker didn't show up," she said suddenly.

Garia looked around, "Maybe he was busy."

"Perhaps. I imagine someone like him has a lot on his mind. Maybe we'll see him elsewhere in Pandaria." They went on a few more paces before Faith looked at her companion, "The other day, you said that you didn't think you would ever be able to care for someone again. Why did you say that?"

"The Scourge took away my ability to love. Or at least I thought it had until I saw the way Sylvanas behaved with you."

"What the Scourge did was unforgivable. But you broke free from them, which means you have your own free will. Even when Sylvanas was in the clutches of the Scourge, she still loved me, or so she claims."

"You think she's lying?"

"I think that the pain of what had happened to her and to our homeland might have been enough to drive love from her mind for a while. But once she broke free, she began to change. She was still full of hatred but she's told me that since I came back, she's been feeling better. Less angry all the time."

"She's angry when she's not with you?"

Faith chuckled, "When I'm away from Undercity for too long, people wait for me to return before they ask for an audience with Sylvanas, because apparently, she's more approachable when I'm around."

"That makes sense. You soothe her, and she soothes you, it's obvious. I won't ever find someone like that again."

"You never know. Just because you're a death knight doesn't mean you can't fall in love anymore. Give it some time."

Dawn was cresting over the horizon by the time Faith and Garia reached the bridge that took them out of the Jade Forest and into the Valley of the Four Winds. At first sight, it was a beautiful open space with green meadows as far as the eye could see.

But they both knew better than to trust what they saw.


	45. Chapter 45

The fields appeared empty of people. There was life, certainly. Faith saw gigantic white birds overhead, and from afar, curious hopping creatures that might have been rabbits. Winds blew across the grassy plains, carrying with them scents of animal dung, greenery, and baked bread.

"If I were still eating, I think I'd settle here for all the food we could have," said Garia. "Those birds haven't gotten to be as big as they are for nothing, so there's got to be plenty of food here."

Faith smiled, "I'm sure there is." Her mind flashed back to the times she'd heard Sylvanas talking about going hunting, and she knew that her lover would have loved to ride in these plains when she'd been alive, to feel the wind on her face and the thrill of bringing down big game.

"There's nothing like it," she had said to Faith once.

She and Garia came to a crossroads, and took the right passage simply to keep the sun out of their eyes. It was warm here, and Faith performed a quick cooling spell on them for comfort. "I'm beginning to understand why the undead prefer the frozen wastes of Northrend," she said. "We don't fall apart as quickly in the freezing weather."

"Maybe, but then we wouldn't see places like these. Northrend is so… ugly."

"Oh, I don't know," said Faith. "I liked the Grizzly Hills, to be honest. And that's not only because Sylvanas and I had a holiday here shortly before I was killed. And from what I heard, parts of Sholazar basin are really lush with greenery."

"Are you saying that you'd  _like_  to go back to Northrend?"

"Now, let's not get carried away. I said that there were a couple of places in Northrend that were pleasant, I didn't say that I liked the entire continent."

Garia chuckled, "I also had some horrible experiences there."

Faith glanced at her, "Yours were probably worse than mine, seeing as you lost your life there."

"Not just my life, but the one I loved."

"You haven't spoken about him, other than to say that you don't think you'll ever be able to care for anyone again."

"And I don't think I will." She paused, looking in the distance at something neither of them could see. "His name was Mavrok."

Faith waited, saying nothing.

"He was a fine warrior from Nagrand who came to Durotar during the Burning Crusade. Right away, he showed everyone what he was capable of, with his hunting skills. He had killed hundreds of fel orcs in the Hellfire Peninsula before he reached the Dark Portal, and it turned him into someone new, someone everybody liked. The males respected him, and the females wanted to be with him. They kept trying to mate with him."

Suppressing a smile, Faith nodded, urging Winter forward and keeping an eye out for predators. She saw a wolf not too far away, but he was busy with a sheep.

"I never tried to approach him. I knew that I wasn't very strong, not nearly as strong as the other females around me, anyway, because I was one of the youngest ones."

"So you never talked to him?" wondered Faith.

Garia shook her head, "No. I just watched him. I couldn't bring myself to tell him how much I admired him. When we were sent to Northrend, he was my unit commander, which made it even more difficult to talk to him. The only time he and I spoke was during a strategy meeting, when he asked me about supplies."

"Where were you stationed?"

"Grizzly Hills, for the most part. We moved to Zul'Drak for a couple of weeks, then went to Icecrown. That's when things started going badly for my unit."

"What was your unit?"

"The Third Barrens Infantry."

Faith winced. She had heard of them, a small unit that had been based in the Crossroads in the Barrens, neighboring Durotar. They hadn't numbered more than two hundred orcs, and had been slaughtered mercilessly by the Scourge only a few days before the fall of the Lich King. "He was killed first, was he not?"

Garia gave a nod, "Yes. He… we walked into some kind of an ambush. He knew that we were all going to die if he didn't do something fast, so he put himself in harm's way with a few other soldiers, and ordered the rest of us to get to safety. I saw him get torn apart by one of those abominations."

A familiar pain wound itself around Faith's heart, "I'm sorry, Garia."

A shrug, "These kinds of things happened a lot." She looked at Faith, "I don't know how you didn't lose the will to live after Sylvanas died for you. I know that Mavrok didn't die to save me specifically, but he died to save all of us, and in the end, it didn't matter. We were about to retreat when the Scourge fell on us like a rotting hammer. None of us survived. Those of us who weren't torn to pieces were brought to a small area of Icecrown Citadel, away from the main fortress, and tortured for a while before we were raised."

Faith shook her head, "Had we known…"

"No. You were doing exactly what you were supposed to be doing. Had you tried to save us, you might have been killed, and Arthas might still be alive today."

That was a sobering thought. "So you haven't found anybody to love since Mavrok died."

"I… I couldn't. I didn't really know him at all, but that doesn't mean I didn't care about him. And I could never find anybody like him."

"You don't know that, Garia, honestly. Besides, if Sylvanas and I can do it, so can anybody."

"But you and Sylvanas have another bond entirely."

Faith chuckled, "That may be true, but it doesn't mean that other people can't love the same way we can. Don't give up on that just yet, okay? Trust me, it's worth it."

They walked on in silence for several minutes, until they began to hear odd noises, like high-pitched growling. Garia stopped her steed, turning in the direction of the noise, "What do you suppose that was?"

"It doesn't sound like anything I've ever heard," said Faith.

"Should we go check it out?"

Faith took a look at their surroundings, and just made out a Pandaren structure, "We could go ask the people living in that house, assuming that anybody does. Maybe they could even tell us how to get to Halfhill Market from here."

"It's as good an idea as any," said Garia. "Assuming they don't take us for bandits."

A smile, "We'll see."

They began making their way towards the house, but quickly found that things weren't as peaceful as they seemed. A creature hopped close to Winter, who reacted automatically, rearing on his hind legs and giving a cry unlike anything living creatures usually made.

"So they  _are_  rabbits," said Garia, trying not to laugh as Faith used everything Sylvanas had taught her to stay in the saddle.

"That's the craziest-looking rabbit I ever saw," she muttered. "Winter, you fool. You're an undead horse, act like it."

"Rabbit? That was no rabbit."

Faith turned her head to find a Pandaren standing behind a small clump of bushes, brandishing an impressive pitchfork.

"I'm sorry?"

"Those things you call rabbits are actually virmen. They're a kind of rabbit, I suppose you could say, but they're vicious things."

"Vicious?" asked Garia with a laugh. "They're rabbits! What do they do, gnaw you to death?"

"They'll destroy a house in order to steal the vegetables inside. And I've heard of them actually hurting people to steal their food. If you were to go into their dens, you'd find piles of food there."

"So they're like kobolds," said Faith. "Annoying pests."

"What are kobolds?"

Faith smiled, "Basically they're giant rats that infest mines to steal gold and, for some reason, candles. We don't have a lot of them where I'm from, but I've run into them from time to time. They'll steal anything shiny, to be honest, just like your virmen will steal anything to eat."

The pandaren nodded, "I can bet that they're destroying my neighbor's garden."

"You seem to have gotten rid of them," Garia told him.

"I have several eagles on my property. They've killed virmen for me before, and the creatures know not to come near. But not everyone is so fortunate. Could you help them? They supply most of the food for this side of the valley, and the virmen could ruin everything."

Getting rid of rabbit pests wasn't really high on Faith's list of priorities, but the pandaren really seemed anxious about his neighbor's farm. "Well," she said at last, "we're here to learn about all of you, so I suppose this would be a good way to see what you're dealing with." She turned to Garia, "I forbid you to say anything to Sylvanas about this."

Garia smirked, "Try and stop me. I'll tell her the moment I see her again."

Contemplating a way to keep Garia from ever laying eyes on Sylvanas again, Faith set forward, nudging Winter along. They arrived on the farm, finding the ground littered with holes, and tufts of grass seemingly ripped out at its roots and tossed aside. The pandaren had been right about the destruction: the garden they were in had effectively been laid to waste.

A monstrous growl came from Faith's right. Suddenly, a virmen twice as large as a mastiff dog leapt at her. Automatically raising an arm, Faith sent a bolt of ice at it, effectively freezing it in midair. It fell to the ground with a resounding crash.

Faith dismounted and walked towards the creature, "That thing's definitely got sharp teeth and claws. I don't think they can kill you, but a thing that size could do serious damage to an unprotected person."

"Imagine what it would do to a child," said Garia. Without further ado, she unbuckled the axe at her belt and swung it just as Faith allowed the ice around the virmen to melt. Blood flew in every direction, and several cries answered the virmen's echoing scream.

A moment later, half a dozen smaller virmen came at them, coming out of burrows and from behind bushes. They moved so fast that Garia wasn't able to kill one until Faith had frozen all of them in place.

"I didn't sign up for this," she grunted, looking around. "Honestly, Faith, is this what we're supposed to be doing?"

"What would you have done when you were alive if creatures constantly stole your food? You'd kill them."

"Yeah but… this thing?"

Faith couldn't help but laugh, "All right, it's ridiculous, but they've asked for our help. We can't just leave them in a lurch. Come on."

It took them another twenty minutes to reach the house, because more virmen kept attacking them, heedless of the fact that they were no match for the two undead before them.

"How many of these creatures  _are_  there?" demanded Garia. She glanced back, seeing the pile of virmen bodies the two of them had left in their wake.

"If they're anything like rabbits, I'd say they reproduce quickly."

Garia began to laugh, nearly dropping her axe in the process. "I suppose you're right about that."

A pandaren came running over to them, his white tunic stained with mud and blood. "Oh, thank goodness!" he cried. "Thank you for coming over! I thought we would never get rid of these virmen!"

"How long have they been attacking you?"

"It's been a week. They took everything, even the turnips, and they hate turnips. But they used them as punching bags."

Faith frowned, certain she'd misunderstood, "I'm sorry, they use turnips as punching bags?"

"Yes. We grow big vegetables here because the water that flows through the valley comes from the Vale of Eternal Blossoms, so the turnips are big enough for them to do that, I suppose. We've only been able to save a few vegetables here. Come on, I will show you." He led them to the basement of the house, which was large, and smelled like fresh produce. "My name is Pei, and I run the three farms around this area. We supply food to parts of the Jade Forest and Kun-Lai Summit, amongst other places."

Faith and Garia introduced themselves, "The virmen really did a number on this place."

"Unfortunately, yes." He opened a trapdoor in the ground, and Faith saw the biggest vegetables she'd ever laid eyes on. Carrots as big as her arm and a huge turnip that was more the size of a pumpkin. Pei laughed when he saw the look on her face, "We pandaren like to eat a lot."

"Evidently. Will you be able to save your farms?"

"With a bit of time, yes. It will take months to regrow everything, I'm afraid. I am not sure what we will do in the meantime."

"Do virmen pelts sell for anything?"

"They'd really have to be washed thoroughly, but I suppose they could be used to make some coarse fabric."

Faith smiled a little, "I daresay we've killed enough of the big ones to be of some use to you. It won't replace your livelihood now, but it's better than nothing. As for food, I think you can make do with the reserves you have for now."

Pei looked at her, shrugging, "I guess it's better than nothing."

"You could always import food from the other races," said Garia. "And you can sell us the virmen wool. Some of our people live in very cold climates, and I'm sure they would be happy to have warm material."

"You really think that people would want to wear virmen?"

Faith picked up one of the smaller virmen, examining its fur. It was coarser than rabbit fur, it was true, and it certainly wouldn't make anything luxurious, but once treated, she thought that it could be turned into something decent. "I know some people in Silvermoon who could do something with this fur. Maybe coats or blankets."

"Virmen fur coats," mused Pei. "I never thought about it before."

"If it doesn't work out, we'll think of something else. I realize that they're small, and that you'd need to kill hundreds of them to make something decent, but from what I can see, you won't have that problem."

Giving a nod, Pei nodded, "I suppose that's true. It would not be difficult to gather enough virmen for some fur trade, although I cannot fathom people actually buying them."

"You won't know until you try," said Faith.

An hour later, she and Garia were off again, this time making their way towards Halfhill Market, as Pei had kindly given them directions.

"Despite the virmen, it's pretty peaceful here," said Garia.

Faith smiled as they passed a couple of wolves sunning themselves, "I think that they might liven things up a little. But other than that, I agree with you. I might have liked this place in another lifetime." At that moment, however, she found it bothersome that there were very few places to take cover as the sun beat down on them.

The sun was slowly beginning its descent when they reached the market, a sprawling area that was more like a village than a regular market. It housed an inn and several houses, some of which Faith later learned were used for storage.

Even as the hour grew late, they found the market buzzing with activity. Pandaren selling everything from fish to pickled vegetables and everything in between, full meals and simple ingredients, they immediately gave Faith an insight into Pandaren culture. She had already noticed it before, but being here reinforced the notion: Pandaren really loved their food.

Having stabled their mounts and washed up a little at a nearby stream, Faith and Garia walked around, looking at everything. Being undead, they had no use for food, but stopping at a baker's stall, Faith remarked that the people of Mulgore would greatly benefit from some of the recipes she saw there.

"Our people could make good trades here," she told Garia. "I'll send word to Sylvanas and Lor'themar about it."

Garia nodded, "And Garrosh?"

"I'd like to avoid telling Garrosh anything. But I'll inform General Nazgrim once we get settled."

"Settled where? This isn't the place for us. Since we don't eat, it's pointless to stay here."

Faith agreed. "We should be moving on, but to be honest, I don't quite know which way to go."

"I think that I may be of some help to you."

Had Faith been anybody else, the sound of that low voice seemingly coming from nowhere would have caused her to have a mild heart attack. But she had spent too much time in Northrend to be afraid of a disembodied voice. Turning her head, she saw a wizened pandaren wearing a hat that hid most of his face, leaving only his eyes uncovered. The way he was dressed reminded her of Taran Zhu.

"You know the shadows well, friend, if you're able to sneak up on us like that," she told him.

The pandaren bowed, "My apologies, I did not mean to startle you."

"You didn't," said Garia, sheathing her axe again. "You said you could help us?"

He nodded, "I was told to expect two unlikely creatures from beyond the mist. Creatures that walked and talked, and yet did not breathe. I suppose you are the two that Taran Zhu spoke of."

"That is possible, although there are quite a few of us on your shores now that fit that description," said Faith.

"That may be, but he also said that one of you would respond to the name Faith Everstone."

"I'm Faith, yes."

"It is a pleasure. My name is Suro Winterplum, and I am a member of the Shado-Pan."

"The Watchers on the Wall," said Faith quietly.

Suro nodded again, "That is correct. I am here to take you to the Shado-Pan Monastery, should you wish to accompany me. The journey there will be perilous, but from what I have heard, neither of you are unused to danger."

Faith smiled a little, "You heard correctly. And yes, for my part, I was told to go to the monastery, so I would accompany you. I'm not sure what my companion will decide to do."

"I'll come with you, of course. You saved my life, I'm not leaving you."

"You hardly owe me a life debt, you know."

Garia shrugged, "I have nothing better to do with my time."

Faith didn't press the death knight. In truth, she was pleased with this new friendship, and would have been sad to leave Garia behind. "All right then, we'll go. We shall follow you, Master Winterplum. When would you wish to depart?"

"I can depart immediately."

"Don't you need sleep?" asked Garia. "How long will the journey take?"

"Quite some time, depending on the dangers we will face on the road."

"Then it would be best if you got yourself some rest and nourishment before we left," Faith told him. "If the trek is as dangerous as you're letting on, it will do you good to be at full strength. Unless there is a matter of urgency and we're needed at the monastery immediately."

Suro looked at her, "I suppose I could use some rest and food. You do not sleep, is that correct?"

"That's right. But we can prepare for the trip while you sleep. We can be off at first light. We have taken a room at the inn, so feel free to use it."

Thanking them, Suro went to the inn while Faith began questioning the people around her about where they would be going. Part of her relished the idea of going somewhere new, while another part longed for home. For Sylvanas.


	46. Chapter 46

Suro was ready to leave at first light, after a quick breakfast of mint tea and sliced peaches.

"Do you have enough food for the journey?" Faith asked him.

"Oh, yes, I have bread rolls and everything," he said. "And I can fish on the road. If bad comes to worse, I can always conjure some mana cakes to eat."

Faith smiled, "All right then, I suppose we can go."

And so they left for a journey that took them nearly two weeks. They had good weather, for the most part, and the new landscape provided plenty of distractions, with Suro playing tour guide and offering them various explanations for what they were seeing.

"That is a yaungol settlement over there. They used to be enslaved by the mogu, thousands of years ago, but gained their independence when they joined other slave races in a rebellion. Since then, they have been fighting to keep their own way of life, but they're constantly fighting with others, including us. There are not enough of us to completely push them back, and I do not think that they have a place that we can push them back to. Not with the mantid everywhere."

"The mantid?" asked Garia.

"They are a large insectile race that has taken over parts of Pandaria."

Giant insects. "Sounds colorful," said Faith. "Where are they based?"

"Oh, you will find them everywhere, but mostly in the Dread Wastes and in Townlong Steppes. There are also quite a few in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms and here in the Valley, but closer to the wall."

"There are too few of you to fight them, you say?" said Garia. "How many of you are there?"

"Let's just say that if the mantid and the yaungol decided to attack us together, we would not stand a chance. Especially not with the sha also in the picture. And since you have arrived, we have heard of the Zandalari trolls stirring. The mogu too."

"So that's the mantid, the Zandalari trolls, the mogu, and sha, and the yaungol. Those are all the enemies here?"

"Well, with the saurok."

"And what is a saurok?" asked Faith wearily.

"They're a race of lizards… well, lizard-men who were created by the mogu."

" _Created_? How so?"

Suro looked at them, "The mogu took local wildlife, reptiles mostly, and… twisted them, I guess you could say, until they became what they are today. They're vicious creatures who are insanely strong and like to prey on the weak. They plunder without caring about other races, and will charge into any battle as long as it allows them to get spoils."

"Delightful."

"They sound like the creatures that were encountered by the Horde and the Alliance when they crashed into the island not far from here," said Garia. "Remember hearing about that?"

Faith nodded, "Sure. Only they were described as walking snakes."

"That's them," nodded Suro.

"I think I'm going to need to study these creatures," Faith told him. "I know about the mogu from my previous studies, but not about the others."

"Oh, that will not be a problem. Once we get to the monastery, we will be able to teach you a great deal, should you wish it."

Faith nodded, closing her eyes briefly and letting her thoughts take her to Sylvanas in Undercity.

Sylvanas felt her, the blood stirring within her.

"Are you all right, my Lady?" asked Rotvine, handing her a few rolls of parchment to sign.

"Of course," she answered, taking the parchment from him. "Why do you ask?"

"Because you just got that look on your face."

"What look?"

"You know. The look you get when Faith unexpectedly comes into a room you're in."

Sylvanas suppressed a smile, "She's thinking about me."

"That's an unusual occurrence, really," said Rotvine, rolling his eyes as best he could. "I mean, she thinks about you, what, every second of every day?"

"Maybe unconsciously."

Rotvine shook his head with a chuckle, "No. Faith thinks about you actively all the time, Sylvanas.  _All the time_. She may not always wonder what color underwear you're wearing –."

" _What_?"

"But she certainly wonders what you're doing every moment she's not with you."

"What does my… what's that got to do with…"

This time, Rotvine really did begin to laugh. "You can't tell me you don't think about that."

"I haven't thought about her… not for years. Since before I died, really." She could almost feel her skin flushing at the memory of the first time she'd thought of Faith that way.

It had been a hot afternoon, and she'd been in her quarters in Silvermoon, her windows open to let in a breeze. She'd been on her bed, trying to take a nap, but had felt too warm because of the magical heat wave throughout the kingdom, and had stripped down to her undergarments. Faith had been on her mind a lot – she hadn't been able to get her out of her head.

She remembered the way she had allowed her mind to wander, and the way her fingers had crept inside her underwear, stroking the quivering folds of flesh between her thighs.  She had bit her lips as she had climaxed around her index and middle fingers, fisting the sheets with her other hand…

_Faith_.

Sylvanas shook her head, willing herself back to the present. "She got under my skin really fast."

"Yeah, I bet. You know, I've gotten her side of the story, but never yours."

"And you won't get it. I know you care about Faith as though she were your own daughter, but you really need not worry about my feelings for her."

"You miss her."

"I just saw her."

Rotvine leaned against Sylvanas' desk, "And that means you don't miss her? You miss her the second she leaves your side, I see it. This change comes over your features when she's away from you – everyone sees it."

Sylvanas picked up a quill, reading over the parchment before her. Garrosh was asking for more troops to be sent to Pandaria. Growling a little under her breath, she scribbled her signature before handing the roll back to Rotvine, who took it, his eyes still on her. "All right, so I miss her as soon as she turns away from me. I always miss her. But I can't very well sequester her in Undercity and keep her as my slave."

"I don't think she'd object to that, to be honest."

A smirk, "Maybe not." Faith always looked for excuses to be with her, or she had when she'd been alive. She wasn't sure whether they would share the same dynamic now, despite their lovemaking at the Jade Temple.

Her thoughts strayed again to a day less than a decade before her death, when things had been a little more carefree. A perfect day with clear blue skies and a dazzling sun that had filtered down through the trees near Everstone Village. She'd randomly decided to take a day off to go see Faith, having been in the area, and had caught the village during its annual hawkstrider race.

It had been a favorite event of Faith's, and Sylvanas had known exactly where to find her: at the racing fields just northwest of the village. The stands had been packed with cheering people as hawkstriders of every color had raced by, leaving behind a prized feather or two.

That day, she'd seen Faith, her eyes bright with interest, stroking the feathers of a striking orange strider. The animal had nuzzled her happily, accepting grain from her hand. A moment later, Faith had seen her, and her face had lit up even more. She hadn't gone to her, of course, and had schooled her expression so as not to give anything away, but Sylvanas had seen enough.

She'd crossed the spectator area in a few strides, reaching Faith and quickly hugging her. Faith had tried to be nonchalant about it, except that her eyes had completely betrayed her that day.

_Ah, Faith. I hate this, I really do._

"You do realize that if you marry her, she'll have to stay in Undercity with you to rule."

Sylvanas turned her head towards Rotvine so fast that she felt one of the muscles in her neck straining. Had she been alive, that move would have left her stiff for days. "What?"

"It's true, and you know it."

She shook her head, "She wouldn't. Something would take her away from here, and you know it. She'd never be content just sitting in the throne room with me, doing nothing."

"I'd hardly call what you do  _nothing_ , my Lady."

"Garrosh would never allow it."

Rotvine shrugged. What Sylvanas said was probably true. "And I guess that even if you were married, he would send her off on whatever mission he could think of, hoping for her to get killed again."

"It's not going to happen. And even if it could, I wouldn't be able to give her what she wants."

"What she wants?"

A nod, "Faith would have liked us to be married at home, in Eversong Forest. She would have wanted twinkling lights over the trees that would surround us during the ceremony. She'd have wanted me to wear a dress, but that wouldn't happen, so I'd wear my white general's uniform, and she would wear an ethereal gown that would shimmer in the light. Her perfect wedding to me, as she's designed it, would be the two of us surrounded by everyone she loves, past and present, including you."

Rotvine simply looked at Sylvanas for a moment. "You've given this some thought," he said at last.

"Of course I have. I nearly proposed to her when we were alive. I know what she wants because I saw it. When I was on the vision quest at the temple, I saw it."

"But you knew even before that, didn't you?"

"I had an idea, yes. In any case, it won't happen."

Sensing that this was a sensitive topic, Rotvine steered the conversation away from those particular waters. But Sylvanas was distracted for the rest of the day. Once she was done signing papers, she went to Faith's room and took one of her robes, running her fingers over the fabric. Her scent remained there, and it caused tears to come to Sylvanas' eyes. She allowed herself a moment of weakness before taking off her armor and slipping Faith's robe over her body.

_My love…_

Faith's voice entered her soul.

"You need me?" said Sylvanas to the empty room.

_Always._

"All right, but now, you need me now?"

Sylvanas sensed Faith's humor.  _I love you._

"That doesn't answer my question."

In Kun-Lai Summit, Faith smiled. No, she hadn't answered Sylvanas' question.

"So, what's Sylvanas doing right now?" asked Garia casually.

"Missing me."

Garia shook her head, "Honestly… the two of you are like love-struck teenagers."

Faith thought for a moment, "I never saw Sylvanas as a love-struck teenager."

"Never?" wondered Garia.

"She's a few years older than me."

"Doesn't that make it awkward for you, knowing that?" asked Suro, turning his head to look back at her.

"Not as awkward as two corpses loving each other, I suppose."

Suro rubbed the back of his head, "Yes… that is something I do not think I will ever get used to hearing."

"Most people are used to it now," said Faith. "I know of several death knights who married each other, not to mention Forsaken."

"The Forsaken get married?" Garia sounded surprised at this revelation.

"Sure, I saw it happen. It's rarer now, but when they had just gotten free from the Scourge? Weddings were rather common, because they were eager to get back to a normal way of life."

"I guess I just have a hard time believing that dead people can still… you know."

Faith cleared her throat, "I'm not sure I want to," she said, just as in Undercity, Sylvanas burst into laughter.

The rest of their journey to the Shado-Pan Monastery wasn't eventful. Things were quiet, but it was clear that something was stirring. The people they met on the road were on edge, the wildlife acting erratic. A white tiger attacked them out of nowhere, scaring Suro's mount, an enormous green dragon turtle. Fortunately, Garia hurled her axe at it, killing it instantly.

"Do they often attack like that?" asked Faith as she climbed off Winter to examine the creature.

"Not on the road," said Suro, who had also dismounted and was trying to calm his turtle as much as possible. "It could be the sha. They are sensing disturbances and waking up, which in turn is affecting the wildlife."

"That sounds promising. How far are we from the Monastery?"

"Maybe half a day's ride from here. You see that banner in the distance?"

Faith looked. Her eyes weren't what they'd been when she'd been alive, even with the potion she'd taken that morning, but she could just discern what Suro was talking about in the mountains, "Yes."

"If we could cut through the mountains, we would be there in an hour, maybe two. But we need to take a twisting mountain path that starts at Winter's Blossom."

"Another pretty name," said Garia. "Can we stop there for the night?"

Suro tried to object, but Faith had noticed how tired he'd been getting, "It will do you a world of good to get some rest, my friend."

"But we could be at the monastery before dawn."

"I have no wish to see you fall off the side of the mountain because you're too tired to see where you're going during the night. Besides, I'm sure that your turtle could use a rest after the fright it's just had."

Faith wasn't wrong. The turtle still seemed agitated by the attack.

"It is just coming into adulthood, and is not used to being on the road like this. I guess we should indeed stop at Winter's Blossom for a break. I can give you more information about the Shado-Pan while we are there."

"I was more thinking that you could get some sleep while your turtle rests," said Faith with a laugh, "but all right."

Winter's Blossom was very close to them, and they got there quickly. They were greeted by a group of friendly pandaren who immediately took charge of Suro's turtle, and offered them all a warm bed and food. Suro took advantage of the hospitality, while Faith and Garia used the time to clean up a little and change out of their travel-worn clothes.

"Should you choose to become one of the Shado-Pan," said one of the pandaren once they walked back to the common area, "you would probably be asked to join the Omnia discipline, since you are a mage."

"The Omnia discipline?" asked Faith.

"Yes. The Shado-Pan of the Omnia discipline help maintain the wisdom, knowledge, and sacred traditions of the order."

Faith looked at the pandaren, "And how is that accomplished?"

"That is what you will learn, should you choose to."

Garia chuckled, "Have the Shado-Pan ever accepted someone in their order who wasn't a pandaren?"

"It has not yet happened that I know of, but we have never had the opportunity to introduce another race to the disciplines. It would be a first to have the two of you join."

"And a great honor, I think," said Faith, nodding once.

"What other disciplines are there?" wondered Garia, leaning against the wall of the room.

"There is the Blackguard discipline, which is where our warriors fit in. And finally, there is the Wu Kao discipline, which are for our hunters, assassins, spies, and scouts. There is something for everyone wishing to join the Shado-Pan. We take that calling very seriously."

Garia nodded, "I can see that. I haven't seen this kind of organization in a while."

Suro smiled, "Are you thinking of joining us?"

"Oh, I'm not sure where I would fit in. I'm a death knight. I'm sure you have no undead amongst your ranks."

"Not as such, no. But you look like a warrior."

"Well," said Faith, "death knights  _are_  warriors. Just not the kind you would expect." She and Garia launched into an explanation of how death knights had come into being. The pandaren were fascinated and more than a little horrified to hear about what had happened, asking Garia dozens of questions, She answered them honestly, although she didn’t go into any gory details.

"I find it hard to believe that things like this happened," said Suro. "Nobody did anything about it?"

"Of course we did something about it!" said Faith indignantly. "We killed Arthas. It just took some time to do it."

"But the Lich King is still on the Frozen Throne," added Garia.

The pandaren stared at her, "What do you mean?"

"She means that the Scourge must always have a leader, or it'll run rampant. Believe me when I say that you don't want them spreading again, especially without a lich king to harness them."

Garia sat down on one of the squashy chairs the pandaren seemed to prefer, "I don't suppose I'm fit to be one of the warriors of the Shado-Pan."

"You have been through a lot," said Suro. "It is not up to me to decide whether you will be asked to join, but if it were, I would accept you into our ranks, provided you did not raise your slain enemies."

"I can't raise the dead anyway."

"Then maybe there is some hope. But even if you are not accepted, you will be welcome to stay at the monastery for as long as you would like. We never turn people away when they are in need."

"In need of what?" Faith asked Suro.

"Guidance. Peace."

Faith smiled, "I guess we're all in need of a little peace, considering everything that's been happening as of late."

After a night's rest at Winter's Blossom, they were off again, braving the treacherous mountain pass that would lead them to the monastery. For the first time, Faith found she was glad to be undead, as the heavy snowfall didn't bother her the way it would have when she had been alive.

Curious mountain goats followed them partway up, but didn't get close to the path they were following, and once, they saw a monstrous shape in the shadow of the mountain, something that might have been a yeti, but it disappeared behind a snowdrift.

They came upon the monastery suddenly, and Faith, unable to gasp, could only gape at the impressive structure that rose before them out of the mountain.

"By the Light, look at that…" she whispered, staring at it.


	47. Chapter 47

Sylvanas couldn't focus. Her mind strayed towards Faith too much for comfort.

"It's not like she's in mortal peril," she muttered to herself, rubbing at her temple.

But she missed her girl, she could admit that. Looking at the calendar, she saw that it was time for the Darkmoon Faire again, and found herself thinking of the time the two of them had attended it, at Faith's insistence.

Sylvanas had wanted nothing to do with it. It was too bright, too noisy, with people from every race mingling together, although the Horde and Alliance kept themselves separate. But Faith had pleaded with her, finally kissing her into submission.

To say that people had been stunned to see her was an understatement. They had been terrified, and Sylvanas supposed that they'd had every right to be. But Faith had kept her grounded, taking her to nearly every stall and drinking enough to loosen up. She'd kissed her deeply in the shadow of a tent, pressing their bodies together and whispering love into her ear as the sounds of crickets reached them from the nearby forest.

With a groan, Sylvanas dropped her head on the table. "Explain to me what happened to keep me stuck in Undercity while Faith gets to explore the world without me."

Rotvine glanced at her, "You're a leader, and she's not. She's representing you abroad, which I guess makes sense, since she's an ambassador now."

"I'm not sure why that's necessary, considering the fact that the pandaren have split themselves into two factions to join us and the Alliance." Straightening herself up, Sylvanas looked around the room, seeing, for the first time, something of Faith's on one of the bookshelves. She got to her feet and went to it, retrieving a black and silver scarf that Faith had worn on several occasions when things had gotten too cold in Undercity.

It smelled like her, so much so that her head spun a little.

"You're still in love with her," said Rotvine.

"What do you mean, still?"

"I mean after all this time."

"Time? It's only been a few years."

"Most people wouldn't have stayed together after everything you've both been through."

"Most people aren't like us." Sylvanas draped the scarf around her own neck before sitting back down and looking at Rotvine, "You've never looked for someone new to love."

"Me? No, I couldn't do that."

"Yes you could."

He nodded, "I suppose so, but not after my wife… I couldn't possibly love anybody after her. If Faith were suddenly taken away from you, would you be able to love anybody else?"

Sylvanas found that she had no answer for him. Faith had been taken away from her more than once, and she hated to think about it. It hurt in ways her own death hadn't even touched, and still left a void within her, even though she and Faith were together again. As for Faith's real death… no. She couldn't.

As though she had felt Sylvanas' sudden despair, Faith quite suddenly materialized in front of her. Surprised, Sylvanas gave a cry loud enough to be heard throughout parts of the city, nearly jumping out of her skin.

"Faith Everstone!" she screamed, for once completely shaken out of her countenance.

Without a word, Faith took three steps towards her and wrapped her arms around her, pulling her close and pressing her face against hers.

"Faith…" said Sylvanas again, her voice weak this time. She felt tears pricking at the corner of her eyes, "What are you doing here?"

"You felt like… I thought you were going to do something crazy again."

"Again?" Sylvanas looked down at Faith, then gently pried their bodies apart, "I'm not going to kill myself again."

"Good. I thought I'd come here to remind you of what you'd leave behind."

"You're supposed to be in Pandaria."

Faith shrugged, "Taran Zhu told me that I could come and go between the Shado-Pan Monastery and here. Besides, I didn't have much control over this."

"Over what? How did you get here anyway?" Faith had just appeared out of nowhere.

"I had this overwhelming urge to be with you. It was stronger than anything else, and suddenly… I was here."

Sylvanas stroked Faith's face, "You teleported to me? You've never done that before."

"I got scared," said Faith. "I really thought that you…"

"You felt my emotions that strongly?"

"It was like you were screaming for me."

Part of her had been. Sylvanas looked at her girl, gently stroking her cold cheeks, "I miss the way your hair was."

A small smile, "Want me to tell you all the things I miss about you?"

"No. We'll be here for hours if you get started down that road."

"I miss your laughter."

"My what? I laugh."

"Right… you laugh now, and people want to be on another planet. When you were alive, your laughter would bring birds flying towards you. It was clear as a bell, as sweet as a spring breeze."

Sylvanas blinked, "And now it's like the opening of a crypt door?"

"Pretty much. Not that I don't love it – I've gotten used to it now, and it's a part of you. But I… I miss you. I miss the way you were. The way your eyes were bluer than the sky, and the way you looked when you sang."

"When I sang? I haven't done that in a long time."

A smile, "I know."

"You and I sang together sometimes, you remember that? When our parents were able to make it happen."

Faith remembered. It hadn't happened often, maybe three or four times during some of the summer festivals, but the few times they had managed to sing together had been memorable.

"Would you do something differently, Sylvanas? If you had a chance to?"

"If I could go back to those days, you mean?"

Faith gave a nod.

A shrug, "There are many things I would do differently. I would have confronted you about the way you felt, for one thing."

"Confronted me?"

"Talked to you. Maybe if we'd gotten things out in the open…"

"You wouldn't have felt the need to die for me?"

Sylvanas closed her eyes for a moment, "I don't regret that, you know, dying for you."

"But if we'd talked it over beforehand…"

"I still would have done it. How well do you know me, Faith? I would still die for you if it would keep you alive a while longer."

"It seems as though  _you_  don't know  _me_  so well if you think that I'd be able to go through something like that again."

"Do you still think that you can't live without me?"

"I didn't say that," said Faith.

"Good." Sylvanas brushed a stiff lock of Faith's hair from her forehead, "When do you have to be back?"

"In Pandaria?"

A nod.

"I don't know. I kind of left suddenly, so they're probably wondering what happened. Why do you ask?"

"Because the Darkmoon Faire is happening, and I was wondering whether you'd like to spend some time there with me."

Faith looked at her, "You want me to come to the Darkmoon Faire with you, knowing that neither of us can eat or drink anything there?"

"If I remember correctly, you were very fond of the music they played there, and you always enjoyed the animals, not to mention the outfits they sold."

"But I never bought anything."

"I saw you eyeing one of the dresses that time." Sylvanas kissed her, "Don't make me beg, because you know I will. I miss you, and I don't think it would be bad for the two of us to spend an hour together at the Faire."

"If Garrosh finds out…"

"He won't, and even if he does, so what? If you can teleport, it'll make it easier for you to come and go as you please."

"I could already come and go as I pleased with portals."

Sylvanas stepped closer to her, pressing their bodies together, "You want me to beg?"

"You've never begged me for anything before," murmured Faith. "Not out of bed, anyway." She wrapped her arms around the queen, "Sylvanas, baby, I can't. I want to, but I came here to make sure you were all right."

"I won't be all right if you leave me like this."

"Do you want me to come home?"

That question brought a hundred emotions to Sylvanas' unbeating heart, "I don't want us to be away from each other. Ever."

Faith opened her mouth to respond, but Sylvanas put a finger over her mouth, "The Jade Serpent monks gave me more elixir for another vision quest. I took some earlier today, and the vision was brief, but it was real. A memory."

"Whose?" whispered Faith.

"Mine, the day I bought the ring I was supposed to give you."

A blink. Faith was still as a statue.

"I remembered everything I felt that day. I was so nervous I could barely walk in a straight line. I'm sure everyone thought I was drunk or something." Sylvanas stepped away from Faith, barely noticing that the two of them were alone in the office now, Rotvine having made himself scarce. "I couldn't think about anybody but you. How you would look if I ever managed to give you the ring, what you would say, whether you would run away from me…"

"You know that I'd never run from you."

"You did, once."

"Okay,  _once_. But you were Arthas' pawn then."

"I loved you so much back then. I don't think I realized just how much until it was all over."

Faith watched her, not knowing exactly where the outpouring of emotion was coming from. "And now?"

Sylvanas smiled a little, "You're always wondering about that, aren't you? Whether I still love you. We can talk about it a hundred times, and you'll still ask me the same thing."

"Maybe I just like to hear you tell me over and over again."

A moment passed. Sylvanas, still turned away from her, spoke to the wall, "I imagined hundreds of ways to give you the ring. I told you about it once."

Faith nodded, although Sylvanas wasn't looking at her. "You imagined taking me to your quarters in Silvermoon." She walked to Sylvanas, putting her hands on her shoulders, "We have that, you know. That relationship we both wanted."

Sylvanas turned around, "Do we? Is this what you envisioned when you saw us together? Both of us dead?"

"It's not perfect by any means, but I don't think any relationship is perfect, Sylvanas." She took her hand, "Maybe ours would have been, had all this not happened, but maybe it wouldn't have been. We'll never know."

"You wanted more from this. You wanted us in the sun. Married. With kids."

"I won't deny that my ideal relationship with you was something completely different than what we have now. But we're together. We have each other. We may not be alive, and we may be daughters of the night now, instead of daughters of the sun, but we're together."

"Together," repeated Sylvanas.

"Yes, together. You and me. We're connected in every possible way, and from where I stand, not much can keep us apart. Not even death."

Sylvanas chuckled, "The Sunwell knows how many times death has tried to keep us apart."

"See? We're meant to be."

"Doesn't mean that I don't miss you when you're away from me."

"I miss you too, you know I do. You don't need to be psychically connected to me to notice that." She wrapped her arms around her, "Now, kiss me so that I can leave, or I'll spend the rest of the day here and get us both into trouble."

"You know I could force you to stay here with me."

"Kiss me, I said."

Sylvanas did, taking her time. The two of them trembled in each other's embrace, wanting more but not seeking it. "I love you," said Sylvanas.

"I love you." Faith kissed her again, "I'll be back soon."

"Don't go…"

Faith instantly flashed back to the many times Sylvanas had left Everstone Village after a visit. Familiar dread coursed through her, and for a moment, she nearly gave in. "You learned that look from me. You used to leave me all the time."

"I had to. I had a job to do." Sylvanas put a finger under her chin, "But don't think for a second that I wanted to leave you, because I didn't. Remember? I had the hardest time getting Prince to leave."

"He was always in tune with your emotions," said Faith quietly. "And you never told me that you didn't want to leave."

"Of course not. I would have never been able to leave you had we actually started discussing it."

"Is that why we're talking about it now?"

Sylvanas squeezed her tighter, "Maybe." A kiss, "All right, go, or I'll keep you here. Be safe."

"I'm always safe."

"Safer than that."

Faith smiled, "I'll be home soon, I promise. Sooner actually, since I can teleport now."

"Show me how you did it."

"It wasn't that hard, really. All I did was… I don't know, exactly. I wanted to be here with you, and suddenly, there I was."

"So this hinges on you wanting to be somewhere?"

"Yes."

Sylvanas looked at her, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips, "And, truthfully, is there anywhere else you'd rather be?"

Faith stuck her tongue out at Sylvanas, who really did chuckle that time. Walking away, she closed her eyes, and imagined herself back at the Shado-Pan Monastery.

"Whoa!"

"Ouch!"

"Faith… what the… what was  _that_?"

Faith collapsed to the floor, feeling dizzy. Sylvanas' strong arms were around her, trying to help her back up.

"What happened?"

"That's what I'd like to know. You disappeared for less than a second, and… oh." Sylvanas began to laugh, pulling Faith to her feet and holding her.

"I teleported back to you," whispered Faith. "Instead of leaving."

"I daresay that taking a few steps towards me would have been less exhausting for you, but it was certainly effective."

"This is embarrassing."

Sylvanas shook her head, "Your magic has always been tied to your emotions. Your teleportation is brand-new, and it brings you where you want to be. Not where you would like to go, but where you truly want to be."

"With you."

"With me, yes, which will be useful when you want to come home, but it's less useful when you're trying to leave." Sylvanas kissed her forehead, "Are you still okay to make a portal?"

"I wouldn't be if I were alive, but yeah, I can make one."

"Then do that now. And don't try teleporting again until you've gotten a handle on it. I don't fancy you teleporting to me if I'm in the middle of a battle. Come on." Sylvanas took her hand, leading her to the portal room, where several mages were standing by. A portal was currently open in one of the corners of the room, and both of them recognized the orange hue of Durotar through the vortex.

"See you soon," said Faith again.

Sylvanas nodded. She watched as Faith opened her portal and stepped through it, blinking a few times. As the portal closed, Rotvine came to her.

"So, Faith is learning how to teleport."

"I don't think she meant to."

"Oh, I think she meant to come to you, certainly. She must have felt scared out of her mind for it to work." He looked at her, "I didn't know you'd taken some elixir."

"I was only in the memory for a few minutes. I didn't think it would be that, I thought I'd see her."

"That's not the way those elixirs work."

"Yes, I'm coming to that conclusion myself, thanks." Turning on her heel, she left the portal room, her thoughts going to Faith again.

Faith landed back in the monastery, almost right in front of Taran Zhu, who was waiting for her. Garia was there as well, with Lorewalker Cho standing next to her.

"There you are, Faith," said Garia. "I was worried. You just… disappeared."

"Where did you go?" asked Taran Zhu.

"I accidentally teleported myself to Undercity," she said. "I've never teleported before, I always use portals. It was weird to suddenly find myself in her office."

"So you teleported right to Sylvanas?"

Faith nodded, "As I said, it was an accident."

"But a very useful one. I didn't know you could do that."

"I never tried before, to be honest. Rhonin and Krasus could teleport at will, but they never had the time to really show me how it was done, and since I could make a portal, it didn't seem all that necessary."

Taran Zhu looked at her with interest, "Our mages here might be able to show you how to teleport, but to my knowledge, they are not well-versed in that. Portals, they have no problems with, but teleportation is something else entirely."

"I'm sure it's something I can research with them. Teleportation is faster than creating a portal, and could be useful for a quick getaway."

Garia came closer to her, "What did Sylvanas do when you appeared in front of her?"

"She was surprised, to say the least. I think half the city heard her scream."

Lorewalker Cho smiled, "I am surprised you came back," he said. "Considering what I know about certain spells, you must have really wanted to be with her. It must not have been easy for you to leave."

Faith quickly recounted how she'd tried to teleport back to them, and how that had failed. Garia started laughing so hard she had to sit down, and even Taran Zhu looked amused.

"Have you ever had spells backfire on you like that?" he asked.

"I'm not sure it backfired. I just think that I wasn't concentrating hard enough on what I wanted. Or maybe I was focusing too much on Sylvanas. It's something to work on." The idea made her nervous. She hadn't worked on a complex new spell in quite some time, and to do it without Rhonin or Krasus to guide her was unfathomable to her.

_You can do this. You know exactly what to do. Don't doubt yourself._  The voice in her head belonged to the Sylvanas she had known in Quel'Thalas. Her general. The woman she had fallen in love with.

"Faith?"

Turning her head, Faith looked at Taran Zhu and nodded, "Is there anything in particular you need me for?"

"You have this look of determination on your face. Might I ask why?"

"I was just reminded that I have all the tools I need to learn how to teleport properly. Provided I have a little help, that is."

"That can be arranged. Three of the Omnia mages have come forward and would like to meet you. Perhaps you can talk with them a while and get to know them."

Faith bowed, "I would be delighted to."

"They have also volunteered to take you through a guided tour, which I think that you have been looking forward to, if I read the look on your face correctly."

A smile, "Things here are so different from what I'm used to… it makes me curious to learn everything I can."

Taran Zhu nodded, "Then we will teach you what we can. With any luck, you will bring back our knowledge to your people to make them stop this senseless war they have gotten themselves into."

Stop the war? The chances of that happening were too slim to consider, but Faith wisely kept her mouth shut. "Perhaps I will. It certainly wouldn't hurt to try."

"You know that I do not trust your people, or the Alliance. If it were up to me, I would drive all of you from these lands. Unfortunately, there are too many of you for us to fight on our own. So, just as your Horde has asked you to be their ambassador, I will ask you to do the same for my people, and ensure that our homeland is not too badly damaged by the conflict, just as you promised."

"I will do everything I can," she told him.


	48. Chapter 48

The sound of wooden staves clashing together reached Faith's ears, even from where she was. It was a sound she was used to, one she had heard in her own backyard when her brothers had sparred together. She remembered having wanted to join them, but always being refused, not because she was a girl, but because they didn't think she had the makings of a ranger.

She smiled ruefully, wondering what they would think of her now. Of course, Taegan still roamed Undercity, but she hadn't seen him in quite some time, and even if she had, she wasn't sure how to communicate with him, even though she was dead now.

"What are you thinking about?" asked Garia, sitting down next to her.

"My brothers."

"Good thoughts?"

"Nostalgic thoughts," she replied.

Garia nodded, looking at the pandaren who were sparring below where they were sitting. They were outside, and the wind carried the sounds of wood against wood, along with the faint smell of wet fur. "Do you get the feeling that they don't like us?"

"They don't trust us, more like. We're strangers to them who brought war to their lands. From where they stand, we're the enemy."

"We don't work for Garrosh."

Faith glanced at her, "Don't we? Be careful how you answer that, because if what you just said gets back to people, both of us could be shot for treason, and I really don't feel like dying again."

"What I mean is that it's his war, not ours."

"But it is our war, being as Garrosh has incorporated us into his army."

"But we're not fighting the Alliance."

"Well, I wasn't technically ordered to fight the Alliance. I was told to report to General Nazgrim, which I've done, and he assigned me to be the ambassador to the pandaren, which I am now. As such, I can't fight a war against the Alliance that would probably hurt the people here, as it would negate my orders completely."

Garia turned to watch her, "It almost sounds like you planned this so as not to be drawn into the war."

Faith didn't smile, "Let's just say that I've had enough of war. I don't mind playing the role of ambassador for a while."

"But wouldn't that role take you back to Orgrimmar for some time? The pandaren delegation that joined the Horde arrived there a few weeks ago, didn't they?"

"They did, but they don't need me. I'm sure Garrosh has his own ambassadors who will deal with the pandaren and explain the way the Horde works."

"That sounds ominous."

It did to Faith as well, but she said nothing about it. "I can't imagine what it's like for the pandaren split between the Horde and the Alliance. They'll never be able to see each other again, except during battle…"

"I don't suppose they would have been able to stay neutral."

Faith shook her head. She'd heard of what had happened on the Wandering Isle, and the way members of the Horde and the Alliance had helped the pandaren there, and had been helped in return. "You know how our warchief is: if you're not with him, you're against him."

"You learned that the hard way."

"I did." She got to her feet, "Have you been able to talk to any of the warriors here?"

"A little. But they don't like outsiders. I don't think either of us will officially be allowed to join the Shado-Pan, even if we want to."

"I got that impression too. Not all of them are mistrustful, but Taran Zhu won't let anybody join his order who's not a pandaren, and I respect that. I just hope he can understand that not all of us are evil."

Garia chuckled, "You really mean to tell me that you believe that we're  _good_? You and I are dead."

"Being dead isn't synonymous with being evil. Sure, I guess we've done evil things, but we've done a lot of good as well."

Someone approached them from behind, and Faith drew her sword before she'd even thought about it. But it was only Lorewalker Cho, who was wearing a resplendent red cloak, and a look of worry on his face.

"Is everything all right?" Faith asked him, sheathing her sword again.

"I am not sure. Signs are foretelling something bad. A battle between two outside forces."

"That's got to be the Horde and the Alliance," said Garia. "You havet to admit that they're tenacious."

"You can't blame them. The Horde is stuck doing Garrosh's bidding, while the Alliance is still reeling from what we did to Theramore." She looked at the lorewalker, "Have you seen anything regarding when and where this battle is due to take place?"

The pandaren shook his head, "They were not very clear on the when, but the where is another matter. I saw the Jade Serpent, so it has got to be somewhere near the temple. Why can they not get along?"

"To tell you that would take a very long time, and now that they've pulled the Hozen and the Jinyu into the conflict, I think it's going to be worse."

"Could you stop it? Everything shows that if this battle happens, things are going to be horrible for Pandaria."

"It is too late."

Faith turned to find Taran Zhu coming towards them, looking furious. His staff was pointed towards Faith, and for a moment, she was sure that he was going to strike her. She said nothing, merely looking at him. Next to her, Garia was gripping her axe, ready to swing should Taran Zhu show the slightest inclination to hurt either of them.

"Stand down, Garia," said Faith to her before looking at the master of the Shado-Pan. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that the battle has already erupted between your Horde and your Alliance. You have done this. You brought war to our people, and our people will suffer for it, because of you."

"I had nothing to do with it. I have been here, haven't I?"

"Distracting us, perhaps? So that we would not interfere with your friends?"

"You think I  _want_  to see war? I've seen enough war to last me a dozen lifetimes, and then some! You cannot blame the actions of the Horde and the Alliance on me. Not all of us are like that." She looked to the lorewalker, "Master Cho, could you give us a location of the battle? Garia and I will go there right away and see whether we can defuse the situation."

"They are at Serpent's Heart. It is a statue close to the temple of the Jade Serpent that our stonemasons have been building for generations so that the jade serpent Yu'lon could transfer her life essence to it. Doing that would have brought forth a new guardian. But not anymore." Taran Zhu was shaking with barely repressed fury. "Your people want nothing but to inflict pain upon others."

" _My_ people want nothing more than to live in peace," snapped Faith.

"You have a funny way of showing it!"

"Hey!" cried Garia. "The more you two argue, the worse things will be. If there really is a battle going on, shouldn't we be getting there now?"

"We should, yes. I'll make a portal." She immediately got to work, creating the portal on her own and feeling like she would not be returning to the monastery anytime soon. She whistled shrilly, and Winter appeared with Garia's mount just as the vortex fully formed. Without a word, she took Winter's bridle and guided him through the portal, while Garia and Lorewalker Cho followed her.

She had ridden by the Serpent's Heart on her way to the Temple of the Jade Serpent when she'd first arrived on Pandaria. She remembered a peaceful orange grove and a tall jade statue, beautiful to behold, even from a distance.

As she stepped through the portal, she felt a shift occurring that had nothing to do with magic.

The sky above them was a swirling black and white. Far from being interesting to look at, it conjured feelings of fear and despair. And despite the darkness that enveloped the area, Faith noticed that the earth was soaked with blood. She could smell it in the air, mixed with the scents of gunpowder and destruction. The huge jade statue of the cloud serpent had been blasted in two, the top part of it having fallen to the ground.

People lay everywhere, some with indescribable wounds splitting their bodies open. They saw humans, orcs, Hozen, Jinyu, and pandaren, along with other races of the Horde and the Alliance, most of them dead, very few still alive, but unconscious. Faith recognized one of them, an orc she had fought with in Northrend. The orc's head lay a foot away from her body.

"This was a massacre," she murmured, not taking her eyes away from the creatures who hovered between the bodies.

"And the sha were responsible for the carnage," came Lorewalker Cho's voice.

"Yes, I daresay they were. Any idea how we're going to get rid of those things?"

"We can probably kill the smaller ones the way we would any other creature. But the bigger ones…" Cho's voice tapered off as he saw one of the bigger essences killing a squirming dwarf right where he lay.

Faith left him to figure things out while she and Garia attempted to work on the smaller sha essences that slithered between bodies, feasting on blood, living essence, or anything else they could find. On the other side of the area they were in, they heard sounds of battle.

"Those are probably the monks from the temple," said Garia as she killed one of the sha.

Saying nothing, Faith joined her, using magic to dispatch the smaller sha as quickly as possible, but it was no good. The larger essences towered over them, projecting auras of impossible strength.

"We're going to have to weaken those things if we're going to do any kind of damage to them!" she cried.

Cho came running up to them, holding up a piece of jade from the fallen statue. "You can use these!" he said triumphantly. "Taran Zhu told you that the statue was supposed to be used to host Yu'lon's essence. In order for that to happen, the stonemasons reinforced the jade to make it celestial. This will weaken the sha, look!" He threw the jade towards the sha, striking its body. Almost immediately, it began to shrink, crying out in what could have only been pain.

Faith finished it off with a spell. "Warn the monks from the temple!" she told Cho. "Garia, with me!"

Together, they began to gather chunks of jade, noticing that they glowed in their hands, almost burning them. Some of the chunks were small, but no less effective in weakening the sha spirits enough for them to kill. It took some time, but finally, hours after they had arrived, Faith and Garia found themselves with a group of exhausted monks. The sha were gone, and the sky, no longer black and white, had turned the pearly orange of a sunset.

"Now all we have to do is bury the dead," said Garia, surveying the battlefield around them.

"We need to find survivors, if there are any," Faith told her.

"You think there will be some? After all that?"

"I've seen people survive hours of Scourge battles, so, yes, I think that there might be some survivors here as well."

"And what will you do with those survivors?" asked a booming voice, full of anger. "Will you patch them up, and send them to war again? Or maybe take them prisoner if they are not from your Horde?"

Wishing she could take a deep breath, Faith closed her eyes and thought of Sylvanas to calm the sudden tide of rage that had come over her at the sight of Taran Zhu walking over to them.

"For one thing, it is not  _my_  Horde. I am part of the Horde, but their actions are not  _mine_. I was not a part of the battle. All I did was help my people find a foothold here, after which I left to find you, as you had instructed."

"You brought them here!"

" _I_  did not. I was ordered here by the warchief of the Horde, who would have me killed for treason if I were to disobey his direct orders. So stop blaming me for what's been happening here."

"You are not innocent. I can see it. You are undead, that means that you did something to deserve it. You are an abomination that should be exterminated!"

"If I'm such an abomination, why in the world did you first help me when I arrived? And why did you invite me to the Shado-Pan Monastery? You could have just let the sha take General Nazgrim. We didn't know what they were – they would have decimated us, but you didn't let them do that. Why the sudden change of heart?"

Taran Zhu said nothing, merely glaring at her.

"You let me work with your Shado-Pan. I honed my teleportation skills with your Omnia mages. Are you telling me that you forced yourself to do that?" Faith took a few steps closer to him, "Or is there something within you that's forcing you to act like this?"

Taran Zhu lashed out, striking Faith right in the chest. The blow was so hard that she felt several of her ribs breaking as she went flying several feet into the air, landing in a heap on the ground. A moment later, he vanished.

_Faith! Faith! Faith!_

"I'm all right, Sylvanas, calm down."

Monks came running towards her, "Are you hurt?" one of them asked.

"I think it would have been worse if I'd been alive," she whispered, wincing as she got up. "Except this does hurt a bit more than I expected."

"We can fix that if you would like," said one of the monks.

_Come home now! Right now, Faith!_

Garia put an arm around her, holding her up as her legs shook, "Can you make a portal back to Undercity?"

Faith shook her head, "My magic is tapped out for the time being. And I don't think I'd manage a portal without passing out, to be honest."

_I'll be right there. Where are you?_

"Sylvanas… you don't need to… I'm fine."

"Who is she talking to?" a monk asked Garia.

"Her girlfriend." Garia quickly explained things, and the monks nodded.

"She can come if she wants to, we wouldn't mind. Is she the one we saw you with when you were at the temple?"

Faith gave a nod, "She doesn't need to be here, though, honestly."

"Even if she could… the temple has been overrun with sha. We were able to get rid of them thanks to some people from your lands, but some of their spirits still remain."

"More sha," groaned Faith. "What in the Sunwell did we unleash on this place?"

"They have apparently been seen all over Pandaria," said Cho quietly. "I have heard of them in the Krasarang Wilds as well as here. And unless I am very much mistaken, Taran Zhu was infected with one of them as well. He is not normally like this."

"You mean that he doesn't normally go around hitting my lover? That's a relief."

"Sylvanas!" cried Faith, her eyes widening as the Banshee Queen suddenly arrived before her. "How… where did you come from?"

"Undercity," she pointed to a portal nearby. "I had the coordinates from when I was last here."

Garia started to laugh, "Let it be known that if anybody ever wants to ambush Sylvanas, the one thing they need to do is hurt Faith, because she'll come running." She bowed, "It's good to see you again, Majesty."

Sylvanas nodded and gently put her arms around Faith, "You okay?"

"You really didn't have to come. I can be healed in ten minutes."

"Yeah, I'd rather heal you at home." She pressed her hand against Faith's mouth, "And I will not take no for an answer."

Faith shook her head free, "We need to find General Nazgrim and the others."

"We can look for them," said Cho. "Garia can help, and so can you once you get back."

Faith tried to protest, but Sylvanas forcibly picked her up and stepped through the still-open portal with her. "Sylvanas, for the love of… honestly, I'm not made of glass, you know. You made sure of that!"

"Oh, stop fidgeting. I know you're going to be fine. But you don't just have a couple of broken ribs. Look at yourself."

Faith looked down, seeing that Taran Zhu's claws had torn her clothes open when he'd hit her, and that a hefty amount of dark blood was pouring from a wound on her chest, "It's nothing."

"That blow would have probably killed you had you been alive." Sylvanas set her down on a nearby couch and called for Rotvine, who came right in with a Forsaken priest.

"Well then, I guess it's a good thing I'm not alive," she hissed.

"This is probably going to hurt," said the priest to her. "You need to stop getting yourself in these situations."

"I wasn't in a… I was perfectly fine until Taran Zhu attacked me."

"Why did he attack you?" asked Sylvanas, taking her hand as the priest began to work on her.

Faith grit her teeth briefly, "I think he's been infected. He was more or less accepting when Garia and I first arrived at the monastery, but that changed suddenly. Sylvanas, I need to go back."

"Yes, I know. You'll be back there in just a few minutes, I promise."

"If Nazgrim's dead…"

"He's not dead."

"You saw that battlefield, Sylvanas, it was horrible… not many people could have survived this."

"And to think I didn't bring any Val'kyr to raise the human dead," murmured Sylvanas.

"Sylvanas  _Windrunner_!" exclaimed Faith. "Don't you dare have that kind of thought!"

Sylvanas grinned, "Got your mind off things, though, didn't it?"

"It's not funny. You shouldn't be… it's not right."

"Shh," whispered the queen. "It's all right. I won't raise anybody, not in Pandaria anyway. You have nothing to worry about."

Faith glared at her. "You don't seem to realize how much I hate it when you say things like that."

"Oh, I get it, believe me. You hate the Scourge, and you think I'm becoming like Arthas." Sylvanas stood up, "You think I don't know what's in your mind? How scared you've been ever since you saw me returning with the Val'kyr? I'm not turning into Arthas, why won't you believe that? Arthas had nobody to love."

"Jaina would contradict that statement," Faith told her blankly. "So would King Terenas. Arthas had family, people who loved him and who would have died for him. But he was corrupted by Frostmourne. You… I feel like you're being corrupted by a thirst for power and the fear that the Forsaken will eventually die out."

"And, what? You want that? You want the Forsaken to fade into oblivion?"

Wincing again, Faith shook her head, "Of course not." She rubbed at her temple, "Look, let me tackle one problem at a time, okay? I've got too much going on –."

"Yeah, fine. Go back to Pandaria and be Garrosh's lapdog, why don't you." Sylvanas made to walk away but Faith lunged forward, startling the priest, and grabbed her hand.

"What's  _up_  with you? Since when am I his… what do you want me to do?"

"Stay with me!" roared Sylvanas.

"I want to!" screamed Faith, shoving Sylvanas against the wall. "I'd live inside your skin if I could!"

"Then do that!"

"You want me to fuse our bodies together? Wouldn't that be weird? I don't want to look like one of your abominations with two heads…"

"Two…" Sylvanas looked at her comically, then burst into laughter. She laughed for such a long time that Rotvine stared at her with his jaw hanging open in shock. Within the city, many people stopped what they were doing as they heard the unusual sound reverberating through the stone corridors.

It took Sylvanas a minute to get herself under control, after which she pulled Faith to her and kissed her.

"The things you do to me."

"I guess we'd be able to kiss whenever we wanted if we were fused," said Faith, pretending to ignore Sylvanas. "The sex would be weird, though…"

"Stop, stop, I'm having weird visions." She led Faith back to the couch so that the priest could resume his healing spells. "You're really worried about what's going on over there, aren't you?"

"We've unleashed a force that could take over Azeroth in a matter of weeks. Imagine if sha spirits were to stow away on one of our ships or come through our portals. What do you think would happen then? With what a lot of us feel in Lordaeron alone, it would be devastating, to say the least."

"So I suppose that you're going to ask me to send more troops to Pandaria?"

"Can you do that?" wondered Faith.

"I'm queen of Undercity. I can do whatever I want. Well, almost."

"I wish I could discover Pandaria with you."

With a gentle smile, Sylvanas brought Faith's hand to her lips, kissing it softly, "When all this is over, you and I will go somewhere together again. How does that sound?"

"Another vacation in Grizzly Hills?"

"Maybe. You won't need to sleep or eat anymore, so you and I could get up to all sorts of trouble."

"Sylvanas."

"What?"

"You're scandalizing the priest."

The priest in question cleared his throat, "I'm not hearing anything. And I'm done. I would tell you not to overdo it for the next couple of days, Major, but knowing you, you won't listen to my advice."

"But she'll listen to me if I tell her to stay put," said Sylvanas.

"Sylvanas, you promised."

"I did promise. But you also need to promise me that you'll take it easy if you want me to even think about letting you go back. You know I'll find out if you don't do what you're supposed to."

"But…"

Sylvanas made a frustrated sound, "How about I send Carrick in your stead? Just to see how everyone's doing?"

"Send Carrick instead of me… last time you sent someone someplace to follow orders instead of sending the intended person, everyone got killed. Or are you forgetting about that incident at the Razor Hill Inn?"

"Are you two going to argue much longer?" asked Rotvine. "I'll go, check out the situation, and report back here in a half hour. If Faith absolutely needs to go back, then we'll send her back, and if not, it won't matter. I don't see how Garrosh would find out unless one of us told him, and none of his guards are nearby."

Faith knew she had no choice. Sylvanas already didn't want to let her go, but now that she was injured, even a little, it was worse.

"I'll say it again: I'm not made of glass," she told Sylvanas.

Sylvanas only smiled.


	49. Chapter 49

The night was warm. People of every race milled around, glad to have an opportunity to unwind for the night.

The smells of fried dough mixed with the faint smells of alcohol, animal dung, and the nearby ocean created a scent that was very unique to the Darkmoon Faire. An ogre walked around with an enormous cheetah on a leash, allowing children to come up to them and pat the creature, who stood still, but watched them carefully. A few feet away from him, a gnome rode by on a magnificent Quel'dorei steed, which drew the notice of several Sin'dorei who were standing around.

Sylvanas walked around slowly, keeping an arm around Faith, the two of them sticking to the shadows so as not to alert the people to their presence. Twenty paces behind them, Rotvine kept watch, making sure that they were safe. He hadn't really wanted to come, preferring to let the two of them relax on their own, but Sylvanas hadn't taken no for an answer.

"You need a night off too," she had told him.

"You know, if all you want is for me to be your bodyguard for the night, I can do that."

"What do you mean?"

Faith had laughed, "He means that you never give nights off to anybody. Ever. Under any circumstance."

"I give you nights off."

"Yeah, me, but not anybody else."

Sylvanas glanced down at Faith, feeling in love and berating herself for it. Her throat constricted suddenly, and she stopped walking, pulling her lover into a hug. Faith hugged her back, squeezing gently and kissing her cheek. Sylvanas had been clingy as of late. Garrosh had found out that Faith had gone back to Undercity and had been none too happy about it. Even upon hearing of Faith's injuries, he had ordered her back to Pandaria, refusing to believe that she needed time to recover.

"He won't rip me away from you," she said gently.

"He's already ripped you from me."

"Yes, but he's not literally going to come here and take me from you."

"You're still leaving for Pandaria tomorrow."

"I'm leaving tonight, actually."

Sylvanas released her, locking their eyes together, "What do you mean you're leaving tonight?"

"I'll take a portal back to Pandaria as soon as we get back to Undercity."

Sylvanas said nothing for a while. She began to walk again, and Faith had to jog to keep up with her.

"Don't be mad at me," she pleaded.

"Mad at you… Why would you think I was mad at you? I'm not, and you would know if I was."

"You're walking away from me."

Sylvanas shook her head, holding out her hand, "If I wanted to walk away from you, I'd already be gone. Now, come on, I want to show you those robes we talked about the other day."

"I'm so used to wearing black that I don't think I could wear any other color now."

"Humor your queen, will you?"

"Yes, your Majesty," said Faith, smirking.

She and Sylvanas stepped out of the shadows and right into a group of trolls, who jumped when they saw them, murmuring to themselves and walking away from them after giving a hasty bow.

"Always nice to see that people are still afraid of me."

"People were intimidated by you even when you were alive, baby," said Faith.

"I was Ranger-General, it was my job to be intimidating. But you were never afraid of me."

"I could barely look at you."

"Okay, but that wasn't because I scared you."

"Yes it was. I was terrified of you. Or rather, part of me was terrified of seeing you after a long time because I was always afraid you'd come back with a husband in tow or something."

"A husband. Do I look like the kind of person who would have a husband? Even then?"

"So many people wanted you, and you said yourself that you had male lovers before I came along."

Sylvanas stopped in front of a stall selling robes of multiple blue hues, "This is the place," she said quietly, examining a dress made of silky material that started out as the palest blue and darkened to the color of night. "See? I remember wanting this dress for you last time we were here."

Faith looked at it. It was beautiful, but she knew she'd never wear it. "It's gorgeous," she said honestly. "But I don't want you to use Undercity's money for a dress. Not for me, anyway."

"I'm queen of Undercity, and I figure that if I want to spend a bit of my money on you, nobody will hold it against me. Besides, I'm not using the city's money, I'm using mine." She held up a hand, "I know you, and you're going to be passive-aggressive now. So, tell me directly."

Faith looked at her, "Are you talking to me as my lover or as my queen?"

"Queen," said Sylvanas irritably.

"Well then, your Majesty, I'll tell you that anybody would be a fool to refuse a gift from you."

"And as a lover?"

Faith looked at her for a moment, then threw caution to the winds and stepped closer to her, giving her the kind of kiss that she usually saved for the bedroom. Surprised, Sylvanas wrapped an arm around her and kissed her back for a second before pulling away. She blinked a couple of times, opened her mouth to say something, then closed it again.

"Do you need a more concrete answer?" she asked innocently.

Again Sylvanas tried to speak, but failed.

"I think I need to kiss her again," she said, looking at the stall's keeper, who was pretending not to watch them. "What do you think?"

"It seems only fair, yes."

Faith moved forward to kiss Sylvanas again, but the queen suddenly put two fingers to her lips.

"Don't."

"She speaks!" said Faith, grinning. "Don't? You don't want me to kiss you? Since when?"

"Since we're in a very public setting."

"Nobody  _cares_ , Sylvanas. Except for Carrick, and he's okay with it."

"I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about," said Rotvine, looking at a dress on display as though he were trying to absorb its color through his eyes.

Sylvanas glanced over at him and almost smiled. "Carrick, why don't you go and enjoy yourself? We'll be okay for a couple of hours."

"As you wish, your Majesty," he said, bowing and making himself scarce.

Knowing he wasn't going to go far, Sylvanas looked down at Faith, "Shall I take that to mean that you want the dress?"

"I'm not going to tell you what to buy, unless I think you're making a huge mistake. I'm also perfectly capable of buying a dress myself. But I love it when you give me presents."

This time, Sylvanas smiled, "Good. You'll have to try it on."

"Here? You want me naked in public?"

A slow blink.

"Oh, there's an area right behind the stall where you can go to try on the dress," said the vendor quickly.

"Perfect," said Sylvanas. She took the dress and led Faith towards the area, going with her into the tent. As soon as the flap closed behind them, Sylvanas put the dress on a chair, grabbed Faith, and kissed her deeply, pulling her close enough to bruise them both. Faith made a strangled sound in the back of her throat, barely able to keep herself upright as her body responded to Sylvanas' lust.

She spread her legs unconsciously, and the queen, sensing it, deliberately placed her leg there, raising her knee slightly to stimulate her.  Faith made to pull away, but suddenly, Sylvanas’ arms were vice-like around her, and she could do nothing but take the mounting pleasure.

By sheer force of will, Faith managed to keep quiet as she climaxed, her hands tightening convulsively on her lover’s arms.

Sylvanas pulled away. "Better."

Faith blinked, licking her lips slowly, tasting her queen there. Her legs felt like jelly.  "Better." she repeated weakly. "Are you trying to scramble my brain?"

"Your brain scrambles the second I walk into a room, and don't you dare deny it."

"I don't deny anything… it's just that… what was that for?"

Sylvanas winked at her, then held out the dress to her, "Put this on."

Faith stared at her for a second before removing her clothes. Sylvanas' eyes stayed focused on hers, determinedly not looking anywhere else, but Faith detected a subtle tension in her lover's body. She wanted her. "You know, nobody would hear us with the music playing out there, if you wanted me to make love to you," she said quietly.

Sylvanas growled once. A warning.

"It would be a shame to let this opportunity pass us by, since I'll be going back to Pandaria as soon as we get home."

"You'll go back to Pandaria when I let you go back to Pandaria, not before."

Faith took the dress from her and began to put it on, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Exactly that."

"Sylvanas, while seeing your defiance turns me on to the point of no return, you know what Garrosh will do if you don't follow his orders."

"I don't care what he does." Taking a step towards Faith, Sylvanas adjusted the dress on her body, "Beautiful," she murmured. "I miss you in blue."

"You've said that to me before, love."

"Are you comfortable in the dress? Physically I mean."

Faith looked down at herself, "Yeah. It's beautiful. Do I look okay? Not too pale?"

Sylvanas shook her head, "You look amazing."

"I don't know if it would be wise for me to wear this into battle, but for formal occasions, and with you, it would be perfect."

"So you'll wear it?"

"For you? Always." Faith put her hand on Sylvanas' face, "Hey. What's wrong?"

"Why would you think that anything's wrong?"

"Because I know you better than anybody on Azeroth."

"You do, yes."

"I also know that you changed the subject to avoid talking about the male lovers you had before me."

Sylvanas looked at Faith, "Last time I talked about the lovers I had before you, you tried to kill yourself."

"That… that had nothing to do with…" Faith shook her head, "That's not why I did that."

"I know. But the memory remains."

"Well, tell it to go away, and tell me what it was like to have a male lover. I haven't a clue about that, you know."

Sylvanas looked like she wanted to take a deep breath, but settled for closing her eyes, "It was what it was, and in no way compares to what I share with you."

"You're uncomfortable," said Faith quietly. "You don't want to talk to me about it?"

"I just don't see what the point is of talking about my exes with you. I was never really in love until I fell in love with you, and nothing else matters, really."

Faith took off the blue dress and slipped into her black robes again, "I'm just wondering whether it would feel different, physically. You know."

A blink, "I… that's why you're asking? You want to know what it would feel like to… wow."

"What's wrong with my wondering?"

"I didn't think you would after what the Scourge did to you."

"The Scourge… that wasn't the same."

Sylvanas moved to stand behind Faith so that she could lace up the back of her robes. "No, it's not. With a man… it feels different, yes. They're generally stronger, so it can be… vigorous."

Faith bit her lip to keep from laughing, "Because you're a gentle kitten when you make love with me. Maybe you could –."

"Whatever it is you're thinking about, stop it. If you want me, you'll have to take me as I am. Besides, I didn't think you had anything to complain about."

"I don't," said Faith, honestly surprised.

"Good. Then if you don't mind, let's stop talking about sex and go home."

"Eager to have me leave?"

Not deigning to answer that question, Sylvanas left the stall with the blue dress under her arm. She paid, and moments later, the two of them were back in Undercity. Rotvine joined them in the throne room, where preparations were being made for Faith's return to Pandaria.

"You're bringing supplies there, right?" asked a captain whose face was so damaged that it had needed to be repaired with metal plates after his death.

"That's the plan," answered Faith. "Carrick, you told me the other day that General Nazgrim and the others were in Kun-Lai Summit?"

He nodded, "Apparently they were taken there by some villagers. They were badly injured, as was General Taylor's Alliance party. I think they're all in the same village."

"Together?" she wondered, surprised.

"That's what I heard."

"I can't wait to see that. They'll be at each other's throats."

"You received orders from Garrosh while you were gone," he told her, handing her a yellowed piece of parchment.

Faith took the parchment from him and broke its seal before unfurling it and reading it quickly, "He's telling me to get Nazgrim and the others and take them to establish a Horde base in Kun-Lai summit."

"You wanted to do that anyway, didn't you?" asked Sylvanas, taking the letter from her and reading it over.

"I was hoping that Taran Zhu would allow us to use the Shado-Pan Monastery as a base, but that's not going to happen. I guess we'll have to establish a separate camp of sorts, but there's not much cover there. It's mostly mountain peaks and plains. And we have the sha to worry about."

"Garrosh is specifically telling you not to worry about the sha," said Sylvanas, tapping a line on the parchment.

"Garrosh has no idea what the fel is going on. Ignoring the sha is like ignoring the Scourge. It's dangerous."

"Will they attack you without provocation?"

"Of course they will, Sylvanas. It's not even that they're attacking us, it's that they take over our bodies like parasites. We can't afford to ignore this."

Sylvanas sat on her chair, "If you're about to suggest that we work with the Alliance, I think you can forget it. They'll never collaborate with us after Theramore."

"Vereesa will."

"That's one member of the Alliance. Nobody else."

"Shandris Feathermoon would work with us if we asked."

"Just because you didn't kill her? Are you sure about that?"

"The people of the Alliance weren't the only ones to suffer during the attack on Theramore," said Faith with clenched teeth. "We lost six-hundred forces there, Forsaken and Sin'dorei alike!"

"Yes, I know what we lost because of Theramore, thank you," said Sylvanas, her eyes flashing. She handed Faith the parchment back, "Do whatever you feel is best. Establish the camp, and if you see that you have an opportunity to get rid of the sha, by all means, take it. But be careful."

"I'm always careful, you know me."

"I do know you. Better than you know yourself, I think."

Faith smiled a little, "If I didn't know any better, I would think that you were worried about me."

Sylvanas shook her head, "Do you need more troops?"

"I'd welcome more Forsaken troops in Pandaria, but I'm not sure we can spare them. I'm also not sure it's a great idea. The sha latch on to them very quickly."

"Did you have an incident with them and the Forsaken?"

"Not me directly," said Faith. "But I had a report from some Forsaken stationed in the Krasarang Wilds. Didn't you get it?"

Sylvanas frowned, "It doesn't ring a bell."

"I meant to send it to you, but I must have gotten it just before the battle that got me injured. Anyway, several people there reported being corrupted by the sha of despair, and it took them quite some time to get over it. The locals have been feeling it as well, but it affects the Forsaken more than most. No need to ask why that is."

"Is there any way to prevent this from happening?"

Faith gave a grim smile, "The only way to counter the sha's effects, as far as I know, is to feel the complete opposite emotion than the one they're forcing you to feel. So if you feel despair, I guess you should feel happiness and glee."

Sylvanas blinked, "Have you ever seen a gleeful member of the Forsaken?"

"Can't say that I have."

"So, basically, what, we're screwed?"

"Basically, we should keep the Forsaken out of that particular area. There are other sha in Pandaria that might be easier for us to deal with."

"Such as? We're dead, we don't really feel positive emotions."

Faith stared at Sylvanas, "You mean to tell me you felt nothing positive back in tent when you decided to kiss –."

Sylvanas held up a hand, "Fine. We feel  _some_  positive emotions. But not all the time."

"Then train them. And move them out of the Wilds. I guess we could station them elsewhere on Pandaria, depending on which sha are infesting the area. But I don't think it matters. I guess the sha will manifest themselves within someone no matter where they are."

"So moving the troops will make no difference whatsoever," Sylvanas sounded irritated.

"I honestly have no idea. But it can't hurt. In any case, we can't just send people there if we know they're going to be infected."

"Is anybody else affected?"

Rotvine spoke up, "Faith thinks that Taran Zhu has been corrupted. And if he's susceptible to it, there really isn't much hope for any of us."

"What are the other sha again?"

Faith told her. "The problem is that I don't know where all of them are located. I do know that the sha of doubt are located in the Jade Forest, so, to start with, you could send more troops there. It's where all of the new troops are going anyway."

"Then General Nazgrim decides where they go, and he gets his orders directly from Garrosh, so that does us no good." Sylvanas rubbed her eyes, "Let me think about it. If you can, come back here in a week, and we'll discuss this further. In the meantime, I'll try to train troops on how to fight off the sha. Although I'll be damned again if I can think of just how to do that."

"Just think about each sha, and see which ones we would be more effective again. We're not really prone to hatred now that the Scourge is gone. I suppose that people see us as a violent people, but we're not, really. Not unless we absolutely have to be."

"But we wouldn't do any good against the sha of anger."

Faith shook her head, "Most of us are prone to fits of anger, but that doesn't necessarily lead to violence. Unless we're talking about you, that is."

"Oh, you're funny," said Sylvanas. "All right, go back to Pandaria, assess the situation, then we'll see what to do. And be careful when you set up the new base."

Faith began to laugh, "I know I'm good, Sylvanas, but even I can't fully set up a new Horde base in seven days."

"Garrosh expects you to."

"I guess I'd better get a move on, then."

"You should." Sylvanas glanced at someone in the throne room, and gave a nod. "I took the liberty of having a bag packed for you."

"Do I even want to know what's inside?"

"You'll find out soon enough." She held out her hand, and a guard handed her a bag, and something wrapped in black cloth. "This is a new spellblade. I noticed that yours was a little dull, despite the spells you keep putting on it. Try it, will you?"

Faith took the sword from Sylvanas, unwrapping it slowly. It was a beautiful weapon, a curved blade that was longer than her current one. The handle was comfortable to hold, wrapped in the softest possible leather for a good grip. The blade itself was etched with arcane symbols, spells, and Sylvanas' name.

"It's gorgeous. When did you have this made?"

"A while ago." She got to her feet and walked to her, "I might be a little frivolous when it comes to what I want you to wear, but your safety is paramount to me. Be careful out there. And if anything goes wrong, come back to me, and we'll figure it out."

"You don't always need to take care of me, you know," whispered Faith, her voice tight with emotion.

"Yes I do." Sylvanas kissed her. "It's the one part of my job I love."

"Shouldn't you love your whole job?" asked Faith.

"Be quiet, and kiss me before you leave."

Faith did, holding Sylvanas as tightly as she could, her soul already screaming out at the impending separation. "I don't want to go…"

"Shh, my darling. Everything's all right. I'll see you soon."

"You love me?"

"I love you. Do you love me?"

"I'll always love you…"


	50. Chapter 50

_My Dear Sylvanas,_

_If only. If only I could teleport to you this instant, I would. I miss you almost as much as I did when I was in Icecrown. In a way, I think that it's good that I have those experiences to fall back on, because in retrospect, I realize that what I'm going through now isn't quite as bad._

_But it hasn't been easy, my love. Not at all._

_As a matter of fact, things have been pretty rough. I barely have the time to write anything every day, despite the fact that I don't need any food or sleep anymore, although I do need to rest sometimes. Maybe it's my body still attempting to breathe, I don't know._

_I think you know what's been happening. We've been sending regular reports to Undercity, but since I haven't heard from you, I wonder whether our runner actually reached you. She should have._

_Shall I start at the beginning?_

_I arrived back at the Jade Forest, as you will remember, and met several pandaren there who told me what's been happening. Apparently the Temple of the Jade Serpent was besieged by sha while I was gone. Nobody had the time to come and get me. I wish they had – I would have helped. They took care of that, although some pandaren were badly infected by doubt. I have no idea what the long-term effects are of a sha infection, but the pandaren are optimistic._

_I didn't really have anything else to do in the Jade Forest, so I made my way back to Kun-Lai Summit, where I met a Brewmaster who brought me to Binan Village through a pass hidden in the mountains._

_Now, you know me. I'm not really afraid of caves, unless there are crawling horrors in them. But in the Ancient Passage… there were these creatures… lizard-men made by the Mogu, called saurok. Think of naga, only meaner. Or maybe I just say that because I'm used to naga. They were aggressive, and nearly managed to sink the boat we were in._

_But we were able to get to Binan Village without too much trouble, other than a few spears in the hull of the boat we were in. I might always have the sound of their hiss in my mind, though._

Sylvanas put the letter down, not liking the thought of Faith scared. The fact that she had gotten the letter she was holding implied that Faith was safe, but she hadn't been. For a few moments, Faith hadn't been safe away from her. Again. Glancing down, she noted that a few bits of the parchment were smudged with dirt and blood. Faith must have written to her during every bit of spare time she had. She began to read again, smiling at the next line.

_I know you. You're going to hate the fact that I was scared even for an instant. I wasn't scared, really. I was a little nervous about going through the cave, but everything went okay._

_So. Binan Village._

_It was like every other pandaren village I've seen in Pandaria so far, right down to the curious inhabitants who stared at me as though they'd never seen a creature like me before. Which, granted, they hadn't. Some of them were obviously afraid of me, but others were helpful and pointed me in the direction of General Nazgrim._

_You'll have to allow me a moment to laugh. Nazgrim and the others were being looked after by a group of pandaren monks who were trying to best to keep the peace between him and General Taylor, who was there with his people. I knew orcs could be crude, but if I'd said those words out loud at home, my mother would have washed my mouth out with soap. Twice. Honestly, I'd never heard so many insults flying through the air before. Not all at once. I guess that since they couldn't physically beat each other to a pulp, they did so verbally._

_Nazgrim was pleased enough to see me. He mentioned something about how nice it must have been for me to be home (it was, incidentally) while he and the others were in Kun-Lai. I thanked him for mentioning my break to Garrosh, and he didn't deny having spoken to him about it._

_So now we know how he found out that you, my love, decided to keep me hostage in Undercity for nearly a month while I recovered._

"I didn't  _keep you hostage_!" cried Sylvanas, her voice echoing across her office. "Honestly, Faith…"

_Don't argue. You know that's what you did. Not that I'm complaining._

_Anyway, General Nazgrim and General Taylor were too banged up to actually come to blows, so they were just sitting on either end of the room, hurling insults at each other so loudly that I could barely hear the healers who were trying to explain what was going on to me. Haldren, the dwarf paladin who was on my team in Icecrown, was actually there with me. I think that Varian has given him the same instructions Garrosh gave me._

_Nazgrim's companions, namely Shokia, were still wounded from battle, even after a month, so they couldn't immediately go with me to set up a Horde base. So I stayed in Binan Village for a while with Haldren. I wish I could say that he and I fought, but really, we caught each other up on what we'd been doing._

_It was nice not to fight for a while, but as I'm sure you know, it didn't last long._

_A couple of days after I arrived, the yaungol started attacking us. It was pretty brutal because they tried to use flaming arrows._

Sylvanas smiled. Flaming arrows against Faith? The yaungol wouldn't have had a chance there. Closing her eyes, she imagined Faith turning their arrows against them and watching them burn.

_Sylvanas… what are you thinking about? I can almost promise that things didn't go the way you're thinking about_.

"Get out of my mind, Faith," she muttered, smirking and reading on.

_These yaungol knew how to wield fire, much to everyone's dismay. But we were in luck, as only one of the houses in the village burned down, and by the time I left Binan, they were already rebuilding it. I had to resort to actual combat, but that was all right, I guess. A little bloody, but that's something I'm used to now._

_The yaungol siege lasted two full days, and we were able to kill most of the attackers, including their leader. Whoever was left retreated back to their camp somewhere close to the village. I hope they don't attack again, but even if they do, the pandaren are surprisingly adept at taking care of themselves._

_A few days later, I left with Nazgrim's group to try to set up a Horde camp. Despite what we had managed to do in Binan Village, other pandaren in the area were a little reluctant to help us, because they had troubles of their own. I found out that the yaungol, who are the ancestors of the tauren, have been driven out of the Townlong Steppes area by the mantid, and that they're trying to find a new home, which is why they're attacking the pandaren._

_No, I'm not going to try to help them get along with the pandaren, although I think that this would go a long way towards solving everyone's problems._

Sylvanas chuckled, setting the letter down again. "I think you're taking your role as ambassador a little too seriously, my darling."

Rotvine, who had just walked into Sylvanas' office, looked at her, "Are you still reading Faith's letter, my lady?"

"You know how she is when she writes to me."

Rotvine snorted, "Don't pretend you don't love it. I know you've kept every single letter she's written to you over the past few years. And she's kept yours."

"Has she?"

"Sylvanas, she used to sleep with your letters under her pillow."

"Under her pillow… maudlin fool." She looked down at the letter again, listening to Rotvine's laughter as he left her office.

_We found several farmers who were willing to help us out, but first, we had to get their people to safety, and help them get food. It was easy enough a task, and once we'd done that, we had twenty people with us. The camp we set up isn't much, just a tent city, really, but there is a tower and a pen for the yaks people use for milk. We were able to fill an entire tent with ammunition and weapons, and that alone was enough to appease Nazgrim._

_I wish I could say that was all we did in Kun-Lai Summit, but that's really not the case._

_We had a hard time keeping the camp intact, what with the sha-infected wildlife that attacked us at every possible opportunity, and the yaungol not too far away that patrolled the area, not to mention the Alliance camp, which, as it so happens, was set up not far from ours._

_But that wasn't the worst of it._

_At the end of last month, I got word that something had happened at the Shado-Pan Monastery. That the sha had invaded it, and that Taran Zhu was infected, just as I had suspected. So despite my orders to not engage the sha at all, I went up there, meeting Lorewalker Cho at the entrance._

_It was awful, Sylvanas. I've seen hatred before, and I've seen mindless ghouls and zombies tearing people apart, but there's something about seeing the pandaren filled with hatred. They hated us for being anywhere near them. We… we couldn't always drive the sha from them. We actually had to kill some of the Shado-Pan. Out of all the things I have done in my life and undeath, this was one of the worst, I think._

_When we reached Taran Zhu, he was so consumed with hatred that we were barely able to approach him without being affected by it. It took us an hour to weaken him enough to get the sha out of him. I think it helped, but he still wasn't himself according to the people who know him._

_He thanked us for what we had done for his Shado Pan, but left soon after that. I think he went off to try to kill the Sha of Hatred. I don't know whether he will actually manage it. I wish I could have gone with him, but Lorewalker Cho mentioned that it was something he had to do on his own, since he had been the one most affected by it._

_And in any case, I couldn't stay there. A Horde emissary came to the Monastery to get me, stating that Garrosh knew I'd disobeyed his orders (again), and that I was to immediately go to the Krasarang Wilds and disable the night elf camp that had been set up there._

_Me. Disable an Alliance camp. I still feel guilty about what we did in Theramore, and he wanted me to disable an Alliance camp, which obviously meant that he wanted me to kill everyone who was there. How was I supposed to do that? I felt it was a suicide mission, and even now, weeks later, I think that he was hoping I would get killed._

Sylvanas frowned and looked up at Rotvine, "Have you heard anything about our troops in the Krasarang Wilds?"

"A report has just come in about them being infected by the sha. Other than that, I haven't heard anything. There's a tauren camp there, but that's all I know."

"What about a night elf camp? Anything about that?"

"Not that I'm aware of. But I can find out if you want me to."

"No. The letter doesn't end here, so I'm sure that whatever Faith did, she's all right."

"You do realize that Faith is practically invulnerable now, don't you? I mean, short of cutting off her head, I don't think it would be that easy to kill her."

The idea of Faith being decapitated made Sylvanas' blood run cold. Or it would have had her blood been warm in the first place. "Thank you for that lovely image, Carrick."

"Look, she's fine. If she was able to get this to you, it means she's all right. She wasn't able to bring you her news herself, probably because she's busy and because she knows that coming back to Undercity would take more than a few minutes."

Sylvanas looked at Faith's handwriting. She'd always had beautiful penmanship, and it had remained so even after her death. "You want to read it?"

"Not if there's anything… intimate in there."

"It's not a love letter."

"In that case, I'd like to read it once you're done with it."

A nod. Sylvanas went back to the letter, her fingers slowly tracing the lines of ink on the parchment.

_The journey to the Wilds was okay. We had to go back through the Valley of the Four Winds, which took us through Halfhill Market again. It was a nice breath of fresh air after the fighting we went through, but we couldn't stay there long. People tend to think that because we're undead, we don't mind fighting all the time. Garia hates that way of thinking, despite the fact that she's an orc. I guess even she craves peace sometimes._

_We left the market the day after we got there to give our pandaren companion a chance to rest. Suro decided to come with us, because he wanted to go see people at the Temple of the Red Crane, which was on the way, more or less._

_You know, when I reached the Krasarang Wilds, I felt, for a moment, that I was back home. The place is aptly named, as it's a dense forest, but it's green and full of life. The trees are different than the ones in Quel'Thalas, but regardless of that, it was like going back in time. I think you would like it._

_What can I say about the Wilds? We immediately saw that something was amiss when we got to the tauren settlement. They are indeed having problems with the night elves. One of their runners had just been killed by Kaldorei arrows, and they had sent people to kill the Darnassus runner, which I thought was a bad idea. The way I see it, they could have sent one of the druids there, and met up with a druid in the night elven camp, to negotiate things. It might have been easier than all the bloodshed._

_I didn't really have time to worry about the night elves, to be honest. There was a mogu settlement nearby, and they were using some of our people for necromantic experiments. I'm not really sure what they were doing, but almost as soon as we arrived, we had to go rescue whoever was alive. Garia nearly lost an arm during the battle, but despite all that, she got me out of a tight spot. I guess I can't fight off five mogu at once, even with your essence inside me. Not that I had a choice in the matter._

_No, I won't give you details about the fight. You'll just get worried again. And I know you want me home, but I can't leave, not yet._

_I won't bore you with details of life at the tauren camp. Let's just say that it was nice to be with the people of Mulgore again. Some of them accompanied us when we went with Suro to the Temple of the Red Crane, because the Wilds aren't safe for anybody. Other than the mogu, there are some very aggressive tigers, some of the biggest ones I've ever seen, and giant snakes._

_Most of the wildlife here has been corrupted by the sha of despair, and it got progressively worse as we neared the temple. I don't know how many animals we were forced to kill, but part of me hated to do it. We only stopped the slaughter when we saw a group of pandaren monks a short way from the temple._

_They looked battered and sad. And, Sylvanas, I have no idea how he got to be there, but Prince Anduin was with them._

_I know what you're going to say. I shouldn't mention Anduin in a letter. But you don't know me as well as you think you do if you forget the fact that I know a few tricks here and there. If this letter is intercepted, all someone will see at this point is… something else._

Sylvanas burst into laughter. Calling Rotvine over, she showed him the passage she was reading, and asked him what he saw. He began to read, but a moment later, he stepped away from her, rubbing at his cheek slowly.

"Why are you… you said this wasn't a love letter!"

"It's not. Faith masked a passage here that's only for me. Anybody else reading it sees whatever it is that you've read."

"Whatever I read  _definitely_  wasn't for my eyes. I'll never get that image out of my head now, and I've seen the two of you doing plenty of… things."

Sylvanas smirked, "Things?"

"You know what I mean."

"I wonder what she wrote."

"I'm sure she'll tell you when she sees you. Or that she'll show you. But whatever it is, please leave me out of it. I've been scarred enough in my life without having to witness that."

Still smiling, Sylvanas kept reading about Faith's time in the Krasarang Wilds. "She didn't have an easy time of it over there. They were attacked by the saurok and by the sha. And they lost people."

"I don't think that anybody expected to get through Pandaria unscathed, not with everything that's going on. I mean, we have the war with the Alliance, the sha, the mogu, and the saurok. That's a lot of things to contend with."

"She says she's grateful for her experiences with the Scourge because it helps her get through that. Still, I wish I were with her."

"And how would you fight off the sha of despair?"

"I don't know. Faith says here she couldn't do it right away."

_When we got to the temple, Sylvanas, the whole place was overrun with sha. It hit me like a ton of bricks, and it was all I could do to not succumb to the despair that suddenly overwhelmed me._

_Everything that I've felt since your death, every moment of despair, was multiplied tenfold in just a few minutes, and I thought that I was going to just to end my life. Even thinking about it now makes me want to kill myself._

_But things got better. Prince Anduin was able to erect a shield around me, and helped me as I fought off the entities as best I could. I'm not ashamed to admit that I needed help, but if Garrosh finds out, I don't know what he'll do._

"Faith Everstone! You get over here this instant!" screamed Sylvanas suddenly.

But she didn't materialize in front of her as she had done last time. Sylvanas was forced to read the rest of the letter, which detailed the way Faith and the others had been able to cleanse the temple, and how they were now using it as a base in the Wilds, with the Alliance on one side of the temple, and the Horde on the other.

_Things are all right now, and calm enough to allow me to send this to you. We're waiting for more orders, and while I know that Garrosh will hate the fact that I didn't break apart the Alliance camp, I think I've done okay here, as we were able to open a trade route for the Horde. All of the animals that we killed should bring enough food and pelts for the soldiers here._

_Although I honestly don't think that anybody should eat sha-infected meat. Who knows what kind of effect that might have on an unsuspecting person?_

Putting down the letter one final time, Sylvanas laughed, her fingers now tracing the ink that mentioned Faith's love for her.

"I'll see you soon," she whispered.


	51. Chapter 51

"Haw!"

"Oof!"

The sounds were comforting. Faith had spent a lot of time around training soldiers, and knew what sparring sounded like. Looking around, she noticed that the pandaren who were training looked young, maybe just out of their adolescence. But they were good nonetheless. Watching them, Faith was reminded of the time she had watched Sylvanas sparring with Lor'themar. Neither of them had known that she had been staring at them, concealed behind a berry bush, although she now suspected that Sylvanas had felt her presence.

She remembered watching the way Sylvanas' muscles coiled like a snake's when she raised her arm to parry one of Lor'themar's blows. The ranger-general had been without equal, and had bested her second-in-command rather quickly, much to Faith's surprise.

"I'm not sure what you're thinking about, but whatever it is, it can't have much to do with these monks."

Faith smiled, looking at the young man beside her.

Prince Anduin Wrynn, someone she should have hated on principle, someone she should have killed on Garrosh's orders, stood there, wearing a thick blue and gold cloak to protect him from the bitter cold that swept the Temple of the White Tiger. Beneath the cloak, he was dressed in traditional Pandaren garb that had been adjusted for his frame. His armor, she knew, was being cleaned, for he did not need it there.

"It does, actually," she told him. "I was thinking of how Sylvanas used to spar with Lor'themar when I was younger. I used to watch her every time I could. Even now, I think that she could put each and every one of these monks to shame."

Anduin chuckled, "I'm sure she could. Is she coming soon?"

"Coming? To Pandaria? No, I don't think so. She has Undercity to look after, and as she always says, the city doesn't run itself."

"Can you go see her?"

"Not without the wrong people finding out. I'm under strict orders to stay in Pandaria until further notice. Even teleporting to Undercity for an hour could get me in trouble."

Anduin pitched his voice low, so as not to be overheard by anybody but Faith, "I find it difficult to believe that you still follow his orders after everything he did to you."

"I have to be careful with the way I behave. One wrong move, and I could get Undercity wiped off the map, and Sylvanas with it. Getting her killed is not on my list of things to do."

"What about killing me?" he asked, looking at her.

Faith pursed her lips, "I have no reason to kill you, Prince Anduin. In point of fact, I am in your debt. I might not have made it out of the Temple of the Red Crane if you hadn't been there to protect me with your shield."

"But you saved me when the Horde captured me. And you also helped me when we were in Ironforge, remember?"

"We helped each other then."

"Well, then, you and I are even, aren't we?"

"Are we? After what happened in Theramore, you think that you and I are even? Your aunt Jaina would thoroughly disagree with that."

"You died because of your actions in Theramore."

Faith shook her head, "It doesn't change what I did."

Anduin put a hand on her arm, "Did you kill anybody? In Theramore, I mean."

"I did, yes. A soldier was already dying, and I killed him." She hadn't wanted him to suffer, but it wouldn't do to tell him that.

"Could he have been saved?"

Thinking about it, she shook her head again, "No. His injuries were too great."

"Then you did nothing wrong. It was a battle, and you were following orders."

"Following orders. If I were to follow my orders right now, Anduin, I would have your head on a spike for Garrosh to parade through the streets of Orgrimmar."

"Why don't you?"

"Because I don't believe in senseless killing. Now, if you tried to kill Sylvanas, I would hunt you down."

"I don't see why I would try to kill Sylvanas, or even how I would go about it. She's in Undercity, and I'm here."

A small smile.

"You would really give your life for her, wouldn't you?"

"She sacrificed her life to save mine. She says it was no big thing, but I still have a hard time believing it." Faith glanced at Anduin, then back at the monks, "Your father would do the same for you, were it required."

"I know that," said Anduin, surprised.

"So why do you keep evading your protection detail? I imagine Stormwind Intelligence is panicked trying to find you right now."

"SI:7 wants to take me back to Stormwind, where I would live behind the walls of the keep. Here, I actually get to do something. I want to make a difference in the world, Faith, not sit there doing nothing."

"You're heir to the throne of Stormwind. I would hardly call that nothing."

"And how am I supposed to rule if I don't see the world?"

"You don't get to travel?"

"Not like you do. I travel with a contingent of people who keep me under tight supervision. I go from the Stormwind keep to Ironforge, and back again. And I went to Theramore. But I never got to do anything like this."

Faith started to laugh, "Hardly surprising if the first thing that happens to you when you're away from your people is get kidnapped by the Horde."

"Do they know that it was me?"

"By now, yes. I haven't been questioned yet, but that'll probably happen. Don't worry, though, I know exactly what I'll say to them."

"What will you say?"

"Mostly that I didn't recognize you. You've grown since I last saw you in Ironforge. That, and I only met you that one time, so I could hardly be expected to recognize you. I mean, why would you be in Pandaria?"

Anduin picked up some snow and began making a snowball, "What about if they ask you about why you and I worked together afterwards?"

"Between killing you, and being eternally corrupted by the sha of despair, I think that the choice is very easy. Even Sylvanas wouldn't fault me for that."

"No. Sylvanas certainly wouldn't fault you," said an otherworldly voice from behind them.

Faith jumped, turning around so fast that her hair whipped Anduin in the face. "What are  _you_  doing here?!" she cried. "Sylvanas!" In a leap, she'd crossed the distance between them, and landed squarely in the banshee queen's arms.

Sylvanas smiled, catching her and holding her close, "You wouldn't come to me, so I came to you. I'm not staying long, only half an hour or so." She stroked Faith's hair, "Your hair isn't as black. Why is it turning gray?"

Faith looked at the lock of hair that was in Sylvanas' hand, "I think that might have been the sha. Unless what happened to you is also happening to me."

"What do you mean?"

"Didn't you tell me that when you first got your body back, your hair was as dark as night?"

"Yes. It gradually turned lighter."

Faith shrugged, "Maybe the same thing is happening now."

"Maybe. The alternative doesn't make much sense. Not for you. I guess we'll find out soon enough." Her gaze shifted to take in Anduin, who was watching them closely. "Prince Anduin."

"Sylvanas –," began Faith, but Sylvanas put a hand over her lips.

"Hush now. I'm not here to envenom things further with the Alliance."

"Your Majesty," said Anduin. "I don't believe we have ever met."

"We haven't. So as our first official time meeting, allow me to be very unlike myself and thank you for looking after Faith at the Temple of the Red Crane."

"Very unlike yourself?" asked Faith, trying to suppress a laugh.

"He's the prince of Stormwind. Ordinarily, I would kill him. But since he kept you from certain harm, I find myself in a thankful mood."

Anduin gave a short bow, "It was the least I could do after what Faith did for me."

Sylvanas nodded, then put her arm around Faith, "Can you get away for a minute?"

"Maybe for a minute, yes," she said. "Prince Anduin, I will see you later."

Smiling, Anduin watched them leave, not missing the way Sylvanas pulled Faith very close to her body, as though afraid they might be separated.

As soon as they were out of sight, Sylvanas crushed Faith's lips to her own. Faith responded to her, a little surprised by Sylvanas' show of affection.

"Wow… hello."

"Hi," whispered Sylvanas, rubbing their noses together. "I need to go soon."

Faith nodded, "If Garrosh found out you were here…"

"I'm covered. I brought potions from the Royal Apothecary Society, and a few dozen soldiers."

"Oh, so you didn't come to see me," Faith told her, pretending to pout.

"You keep telling yourself that." She pushed Faith's graying hair behind her ears, "You heard about the Zandalari trolls and the mogu?"

"Their alliance? Yeah, we all heard. I know Lor'themar is going to send troops here for that."

"Do you want to join them? The Silver Covenant will also be sending people over."

"How do you know this?" wondered Faith.

"I just know. If you want to join them, you can."

"I don't know, Sylvanas. Things are happening so fast that I don't really know where I stand right now. To be honest, I want to go home."

Sylvanas kissed her, "My love, this is no different than the other things you've faced. Remember in Northrend? There were things happening all over the place, but you weren't everywhere. You couldn't be. The same thing happened when Deathwing hit. You can't be everywhere at once."

"Does that mean I can't come home?"

"I can take you home with me right now if you want to."

A smile, "I wish I could. Kiss me."

Sylvanas did so.

"Again."

"Faith."

"Please? I don't know when I'll see you again."

"Oh, don't say that. Tell you what, come home in a couple of weeks, and we'll have more troops ready for you. Garrosh won't be able to say anything if you bring more troops to Pandaria."

"He'll say something, you know he will."

"Ah, let him talk." Sylvanas kissed her again, "I should go."

"No." Faith locked her arms around Sylvanas' waist and pouted. "You can't leave."

"I'll see you soon. Stay safe."

"I'm always safe. You be safe too, okay? Don't give the Kor'kron any reason to go to the warchief about anything."

"Don't worry about me," said Sylvanas, gently prying Faith's arms away from her.

"It's my job to worry about you."

"No. It's your job to keep yourself alive long enough to make it home to me. Now, come on, the portal is this way."

Faith went with Sylvanas to a secluded area at the base of the temple, where a portal to Undercity stood open.

"How did you do that anyway?"

Sylvanas smiled, "I had a few mages come here and explore the area a little so that they could make their portal."

"You weren't worried about the tigers?"

"If you think I'm worried about a few kittens…"

"You should be worried about Xuen. I don't really know what he'll do when he finds out you've been here." Upon seeing a frown on Sylvanas' face, Faith hastened to explain, "He's one of the August Celestials. This is his temple."

"I see. I'm sure he wouldn't begrudge me some time with you."

"Time with me, no. But bringing Horde forces through here –."

"Hey, who do you think you're talking to?" Sylvanas stepped away from Faith, looking exasperated, "I've been doing this a little longer than you have, and while the Scourge wiped out most of who I used to be, I do remember how to be diplomatic when it serves me right. I had another portal made in the Jade Forest for the troops."

Faith held up her hands, "Okay, okay… I'm sorry." She put her hands down and reached for Sylvanas. "I'm sorry," she said again. "I just… I worry, that's all."

"By the Sunwell, Faith, I know you worry, but give me more credit than that. I'm not completely reckless." She took Faith's hand, squeezing her fingers, "See you soon."

A nod, "Soon. I love you."

Sylvanas pursed her lips, "I love you." After kissing the back of Faith's hand, she released her and stepped through the portal, leaving Faith to go back to the temple.

The wind began to pick up as Faith climbed path back to where she had been with Anduin, but the prince was nowhere to be found. Asking around, she found that he had been admitted into Xuen's chamber, and made her way there.

The guards at the door let her pass, and she walked into the room, finding Anduin there with a tauren emissary and, to Faith's surprise, Taran Zhu. Xuen, the huge white tiger, stood there, watching her with shrewd eyes.

"There she is," said Taran Zhu. "Is it true, Faith, that your lover was just here? One of the leaders of the Horde?"

Faith blinked, "Yes, Sylvanas was here, but she just came to say hello to me, nothing else."

"Did she not bring more of her undead forces here?"

"That is what she told me. But that was only –."

"You see? They are still bringing their forces into our lands! This 'Horde' and this 'Alliance' have no control over what they do! They leave only misery in their wake."

"I will remind you, Taran Zhu, that my friends and I helped cleanse the Shado-Pan Monastery, and that we helped drive the sha from your body," Faith told him quietly.

Taran Zhu glared at her, "And it was precisely your presence that awoke the sha!"

"We are fighters, yes," said Anduin. "But we come from a violent land. We had to fight off demons, death, and even the shattering of the world. We have fought against each other, but there are also times when we worked together to combat a common enemy."

Xuen nodded his great head, "Ten thousand years ago, the last Pandaren Emperor also came seeking my advice. He too was filled with conflict. Let us see if you are right, Taran. Let us see how this Faith deals with turmoil of the soul."

Faith felt something pass through her, a cold wind that actually managed to chill her. Behind her, suddenly, something formed, a spirit that took on her exact appearance.

"You see? She is filled with violence!"

"Perhaps," said the tiger. "But despite that, she is able to love. I think that there is a great deal that can be learned from her and the other people who have come to our shores. Let us see how she can pass the test, and maybe then, we will discuss whether or not we will open the Vale of Eternal Blossoms."

Faith swallowed reflexively. It was why she had come to the Temple of the White Tiger, of course. Garrosh had wanted the Horde to get into the Vale, although she couldn't figure out why. Even more mysterious had been why he had chosen her for this particular task.

But despite her misgivings, she nodded, and suddenly found herself pulled to the opposite end of the room, facing her spiritual form. It was her, exactly as she had been when she had been alive, which threw her for a moment. Her form gave off a black aura of violence, and Faith realized that she was looking at a manifestation of the sha that had been within her.

Her sha form laughed and attacked. Faith barely had time to parry the move with her spellblade. Sparks flew, and she threw out a spell, aware somehow that she wouldn't be able to burn this creature.

"She knows how to fight, I will give her that," said Taran Zhu. "I suppose that a century of killing will hone one's skills."

Faith would have spoken out against that statement, but her sha form attacked again, nearly hitting her. She hit the wall hard, and sent a wall of arcane energy towards the spirit of violence before her.

"She hasn't been killing for a century," said Anduin. "If you knew what she and her people had gone through, you would perhaps understand her actions now."

With a cry, Faith raised her spellblade, cleaving her sha form in half. The spirit of violence exploded into shadowy pieces, nearly blinding her with darkness.

"Oh," said Xuen. "Very good indeed! You see, Taran, she was able to face her own violence quite well."

Taran Zhu snorted, "Let us see what she does with the next test."

The next test, as it turned out, was a spirit of anger. Faith felt it as soon as it manifested in front of her, before it took form.

"What…" Anduin sounded shocked, "Is that Sylvanas?"

Faith couldn't think for a second. She had to face Sylvanas? Why? She wasn't angry with her!

_Yes you are_ , came a voice inside her. The voice was dark, one that didn't often come out.  _You're furious with her for leaving you, then for committing suicide, and again for raising you into undeath. You're furious with her!_

"No…"

Yes.

Sylvanas' form attacked her with surprising swiftness, laughing as her own form had done.

With a sob, Faith erected a barrier around herself, but it was weak. "No… I cannot fight you, Sylvanas."

"Then you will fail," said Taran Zhu. He sounded smug.

She knew his statement to be true. She couldn't allow him to be right and parade her as a weakling to all of Pandaria. She was better than that.

The Sylvanas form shattered her barrier, but Faith had already moved away from her. She sent out spell after spell, which Sylvanas parried time and again, laughing the whole time.

A tear ran down Faith's face. She didn't want to hurt her, even though she knew that this wasn't really Sylvanas.

_You left me. How could you leave me and think that I was going to be all right?_

Faith sent a pillar of flame towards the form. Sylvanas used her bow to counter it, and it caught alight, causing her to drop it.

_You said you loved me, and you raised me into undeath! You… you did to me what Arthas did to you! How could you, Sylvanas?_

Sylvanas' form laughed again, sounding quite unlike the Sylvanas Faith knew.

"She's having trouble with this one," commented the tauren emissary. "I guess it was to be expected if the form is her lover."

"Give her time," said Anduin. "She'll get there."

It was easier said than done. Memories coursed through her, sending her back to the last moments she'd spent with Sylvanas when they had both been alive. She could only imagine what her lover would say to her.

_Fight! Don't let this illusion of me beat you!_

Faith's anger nearly doubled her over. She screamed, piercingly, and launched herself at the Sylvanas form. Her blade crackled with fire as she thrust it into the form's chest.

Sylvanas exploded just as the fragment of anger had done, and Faith, overcome, collapsed to the floor, sobbing.


	52. Chapter 52

"That must not have been easy for you," commented the white tiger, looking at where Faith was kneeling, wiping at her face. Her sobs sounded odd, breathless, but she was quickly regaining her composure. Next to him, Taran Zhu looked impassive, as though he couldn't have cared less about what he was witnessing. On his other side, Prince Anduin and the tauren were looking more sympathetic.

"The worst is yet to come, is it not?" asked Anduin.

"It is. Get up, Faith, and face your latest challenge. Hatred."

Faith looked up as another manifestation of the sha materialized in front of her. After having faced Sylvanas again, she expected to face Garrosh because of what he had done to her, but instead…

Arthas.

Prince Anduin gave a cry of alarm, stepping back and hitting the wall behind him. "That's the Lich King... she has already killed him."

"But she still hates him," said the tauren. "Not that I can blame her after what he did to her people."

"And what did he do?" spat Taran Zhu. "What did he do to deserve getting killed?"

It was Anduin who answered in a soft voice, "He sacked Quel'Thalas, Faith's home, and destroyed nearly everything there. He decimated the elven population so badly that merely one hundred thousand of them remained, out of a population of over one million individuals. Oh, and he killed Sylvanas Windrunner personally."

"We have all lost people," said the pandaren without emotion.

"But maybe you should learn about Faith's past before you pass judgment on her."

Faith heard them talking, but only dimly. A hatred so powerful was coursing through her that she could barely see straight. Her body shook. Her vision blurred. All she saw was Arthas killing Sylvanas, plunging Frostmourne into her body and raising her as a banshee. The hatred was clear and bright. It almost had a taste. A metallic one, nearly akin to blood.

"Arthas…" she whispered.

Arthas laughed. It was an illusion, but it sounded exactly the same way he had when she'd heard him in Icecrown Citadel. The laughter brought back all sorts of horrible memories, and her skin began to crawl, as though covered in spiders.

"You think you have beaten me," he said to her. "But you haven't. I will always be there, reminding you of what I've done, of the way I brought about the destruction of your home, of your family, and of your lover. Sylvanas."

At the mention of Sylvanas' name, Faith screamed and lunged. Arthas raised Frostmourne and parried her blow with ease. Sparks flew, and he laughed again.

"I killed her, and I enjoyed it. I tortured her, and I enjoyed it. I watched her slowly losing her mind at the thought of your death… and I certainly enjoyed it."

Faith's hatred peaked, and she attacked over and over again, sending out every single spell she could think of at Arthas. Most of them hit him, but seemed to have very little effect on him. A dim part of her told her that she was going about this fight the wrong way, but she couldn't heed her own council. The reminder of what Sylvanas had gone through was at the forefront of her mind, clouding everything else.

Sylvanas.

Her heart seemed to quiver in her chest. It must have been an illusion, because it lay there, unbeating, but she felt it nevertheless. A distant cry, Sylvanas calling out to her in love.

Love.

Faith paused, and Arthas' illusion thrust Frostmourne into her. Her world flashed, colors washing out of it briefly before she saw Sylvanas,  _living_   _Sylvanas_  standing before her.

"Let me go, Faith," she said. "Let go of the past, and focus on the future. You must. You cannot hold on to me that way, it's unhealthy. And while you do, you will never be free of the hatred you feel burning deep within you. You will never be truly able to love me again. What you feel now, it is nothing compared to what you could really feel."

Had Faith's attention not been wholly absorbed by Sylvanas, she would have heard Anduin's shocked cry. She would have seen the tauren's face slacken in awe.

But she saw none of it. Her heart broke, mended itself, and broke again.

"Let go of it," said Sylvanas. She came closer to her, floating an inch or so above the ground.

"Sylvanas…"

"I'm here. You  _know_  I'm here. Not the undead version of me you know now, but me. The real me that you loved for so long. I'm here for you, within you, right next to you. And I will never leave you." Sylvanas put a hand on her face, and it was warm. Their lips touched. An illusion it might have been, but to Faith, it was entirely real.

When she opened her eyes, Arthas was gone. Sylvanas came closer to her, diminishing into a golden mist that went through her, settling right where her heart was.

"What in the name of all Pandaria happened?" asked Taran Zhu, his voice surprisingly loud. "What was  _that_?"

"Faith beat it," said Xuen. "She beat back her hatred."

" _How_? She barely fought."

"Oh, she fought. Just because you didn't see her physically fight doesn't mean she wasn't fighting it."

"But what did she  _do_?"

"She used love," said Anduin. "I don't even think that she did it consciously."

The white tiger nodded, "However she did it, it was effective. And it has certainly left its mark upon her."

Faith looked at him, "What do you mean?"

"Look at yourself, child."

The walls of the room were made of reflective marble, and when Faith caught a glimpse of herself, she blinked. From what she could see, her hair was now as white as her skin, like a fresh snowfall cascading from her head.

"But… how?" she asked.

Xuen looked down at her, his blue eyes benevolent, "I suppose that what you felt was so intense that it affected you physically. Since you are undead, it affected you differently than it would other people."

Faith didn't know what to say. "I guess…" she whispered after a few seconds.

"The fact that you were able to go through the trials says a great deal about you, Faith Everstone. Your people have brought war to our shores, but you show that there is the capacity to also bring peace. Because of this, I will allow both the Horde and the Alliance to go to the Vale of Eternal Blossoms. I hope that you will treat it well, for we are very fond of it."

"Thank you, White Tiger," said Anduin earnestly. "We're most grateful that you would grant us this honor."

Taran Zhu, however, was visibly upset by the decision.

"One person alone cannot tell you what an entire people will do! She does not control what the Horde does! You are making a grave mistake in allowing her people and the Alliance to enter the Vale."

"She has proven her worth, Taran," said Xuen quietly. "And I'm sure that the other celestials will agree with me on this. Please, join us at the Gate of the August Celestials, at the entrance to the Vale, and we will grant you all safe passage." He looked at Faith again, "I can sense that you want to go home. Will you have the energy to do this now?"

"I think so. But I need to send a report first."

"I can do that," said the tauren. "You need not worry about that, Faith."

A nod, "Thank you." She was about to ask how they were going to get to the gate, but Xuen called a couple of pandaren mages, who created a portal for them. She was the last to step through the gate of swirling energy.

Faith had passed the gate once, from afar. She'd heard of what was on the other side, and had wondered whether she would get to see it.

The Vale of Eternal Blossoms.

It lay there, just beyond the gate, which was still closed, although one could scarcely fail to notice that the four August Celestials were there, and that they were getting ready to open the doors for the people standing there.

The pandaren were speaking in their own language, but Faith had picked up a few words here and there, and managed to discern that everyone was excited about finally being able to see it for themselves.

"Why haven't they been allowed there before?" she asked.

"It was sealed following the overthrowing of the mogu. This was a place where the power of the Well of Eternity coalesced, you know."

"Was it?" asked Faith, surprised. "I was only aware of two such locations on Azeroth until now."

Xuen nodded, "The Vale was sealed in order to protect it. Emperor Shaohao came here to unburden himself, and according to legend, as soon as he walked into the Vale, the trees began to blossom." With another nod, he turned towards everyone, as Yu'lon, the great dragon, flew up into the sky.

"Children of Pandaria," she said as everyone began to kneel. "The mists have fallen. For good or ill, our land is open to all."

Xuen took a few steps forward and roared. The land under Faith's feet trembled, and suddenly, the gates unlocked and opened, revealing the Vale of Eternal Blossoms to all of them.

Faith's mouth dropped open. Memories assailed her, as the riot of color strongly reminded her of Quel'Thalas.

It was breathtakingly beautiful. A clean smell of fresh earth, flowers, and trees surrounded her, and even though her senses were dull that day, she took a step back, overwhelmed.

Everything seemed golden. The grass was a vibrant yellow, impossibly soft to the touch. Thousands of little flowers sprouted from the earth, their petals beautiful and delicate.

Strong trees with dark trunks unfurled golden leaves and blossoms as people began to walk through the gates, in awe over what they were seeing.

"Unbelievable," said Faith quietly. By her side, Garia stared around her, stunned.

"I don't think I've ever seen such a beautiful place. And Pandaria is already beautiful as it is."

Faith agreed. There were no words to describe what she was seeing. An amazing sense of purity permeated the very ground they stood on, and Faith found herself wishing that she had come here much sooner.

"Sylvanas would have loved this place when she was alive," she whispered.

"Is there anything that you see that doesn't make you think of Sylvanas in any way?"

Startled into laughter, Faith shook her head, "I'm sorry. I know I mention her a lot."

"A lot…" muttered Garia. "You could live inside her skin and feel that you weren't close enough to her."

"I don't hide that."

"I know, that's what I'm saying. You talk about Sylvanas so much that I feel like I'm her best friend now or something."

Still smiling, Faith put a hand over her mouth, "All right, I'll keep quiet about her."

"No you won't. You can do a lot of things, Faith, but not talk about Sylvanas when she's not around isn't one of them. What do you think she'll say about your hair?"

Faith twisted a strand of her newly whitened hair around her finger, "She'll probably call me a ghost, I dunno."

"You don't think she's going to obsessively look it over strand by strand?"

"No, no. That's me, not her. Did I ever tell you? Once, I found a couple of strands of her hair in my bedroom after she'd visited me, and I kept them. I actually framed them and kept them on my wall. She never knew that."

"You… kept strands of her hair. I don't think we should be friends anymore."

Faith began to laugh again, "It's not that strange. People keep strands of their loved one's hair all the time."

"Yeah, their children's or someone who's died, maybe. But… you were obsessed."

"Yeah, well, I couldn't be with her back then, which made me want her more."

"More? More than now? I'm happy I wasn't there to see that."

They walked through the Vale, following the throngs of people who passed under two enormous mogu statues that had been depicted as carrying spears that formed an archway.

"Wow," said Faith. "I will never cease to be amazed at what the people here have managed to do."

"Your people have great structures too," said Garia fairly.

"We did, yes, until the Scourge pretty much destroyed it all."

"Still, you've managed to rebuild."

Faith nodded, "This place reminds me of home."

"Wasn't your home green?"

"The south, yes. But Sylvanas was in Silvermoon, where everything was covered in autumn colors." She didn't mention that the color of the trees reminded her of the way Sylvanas' hair used to shine like freshly spun gold in the sun.

Garia chuckled, "I give up trying to understand you."

Faith smiled, before turning her eyes to an immense palace that loomed in front of her, "Would you look at that…" she said. "That must be Mogu'shan Palace."

"How could you possibly know that?" wondered Garia.

Faith nodded towards all of the pandaren around her, "I've been hearing them talking about the palace ever since we walked through the gate. Seeing it, I can understand why. I mean, look at that."

Garia gave a nod. It didn't look like anything she had ever seen before. Her people had certainly never built that kind of structure, nor had any other members of the Horde, except for the Sin'dorei, whose buildings could certainly be grand in stature. "It's striking."

It was. Everyone who had ever laid eyes on it had said the same thing. Built on a hill, in tones of white, red and gold, it was a beautiful building that followed pandaren and mogu architectural lines. A grand staircase led from the center of a glowing pool to the front doors. Blossoming red trees grew on either side of this pool, the waters of which looked crystal-clear, even at a distance.

"It looks magical," whispered Faith.

"I don't think that's just for looks," said Garia. "It's a bit like Dalaran or Silvermoon: you can feel the magic of this place."

" _From the smallest pebble to the brightest leaf, magic is here, all around_. That's something that I was told when I was little. Magic was everywhere at home, and almost everyone could access it in one way or another."

"Did Sylvanas tell you that?"

A smile, "No. It was Ravenna, my sister. I miss her. I'm sure she would have loved to see this place too."

"Even Garrosh couldn't fail to appreciate the beauty here."

A look of alarm crossed Faith's features, "I don't want to think of Garrosh here. The war he's forced us into has already caused damage to Pandaria. I'd hate to think of what he would do to the Vale."

A group of pandaren began directing the flow of people towards areas to the right and to the left of the palace. Faith and Garia were directed, along with the rest of the Horde travelers, to a separate area than the Alliance travelers.

"The members of the Alliance are to go to the Shrine of Seven Stars, while the Horde should go to the Shrine of Two Moons," someone was calling out. "We don't want quarrels here."

Faith smiled ruefully, "I guess that not even this sanctuary can quell the war. I can't blame the locals for wanting to preserve this spot."

Neither of them said anything else until they had arrived at the Shrine of Two Moons, which seemed to be an extension of the palace. It was just as pretty to behold, and the inside was sumptuously decorated with jewels of jade and gold, and softly shimmering lanterns. Hot food awaited the living members of the Horde, while others decided to take a bath or visit the shrine.

"What will you do now, Faith?" asked Garia. "Will you go to Sylvanas?"

A nod, "I want to talk to her. It's not the first time I've had to kill some image of her, but it never gets easier."

"Well, at least you know that if things got really bad, you'd be able to kill her immediately."

"I don't know about that. I wonder if she'd be able to kill me."

"Didn't she try, once? When she was Scourge, I mean."

"Yes, but I don't really count that. Her will wasn't her own then." She cleared her throat, taking a small vial of potion out of her pocket and swallowing its contents, "I should find a map and get acquainted with this area so that I can make a portal to return."

A Forsaken mage heard her, "That won't be necessary," he said. "We are all doing this so that we might be able to make portals to any of the capital cities. The pandaren have set up a room for this purpose on the second floor. If you give us a couple of hours, we will be able to create a portal for you."

"Thank you," she told him. "I'll come with you then. Garia, what do you want to do?"

"Oh, I'll explore a little. See you later, Faith."

Faith squeezed her hand before following the Forsaken mage to the portal room. Mages of every race had converged there, and were looking at maps and star charts. Faith joined them, and an hour later, the first portal to Orgrimmar had been created, followed by a portal to Undercity, which Faith took, landing in the room just off the Royal Quarter.

"Oh, there you are. Sylvanas expected you an hour ago."

"Hello to you too, Carrick," said Faith smiling as she saw her Rotvine at the entrance to the room. "What do you mean Sylvanas expected me?"

"Oh, you know how it is. She felt that something was wrong, and she expected you to come home right away."

"Nothing's wrong, really. There was just a trial I had to pass, and no trial is complete for me unless I have to kill some version of Sylvanas."

"Again? How many times have you done that now?"

Faith chuckled, "Several. And it doesn't get any easier."

Sylvanas suddenly appeared before them, rounding a corner, and having evidently overheard Faith's statement, "The gods really don't have any better things for you to do, do they?"

"It wasn't the gods this time, Sylvanas, it was the sha."

"The sha made you kill me?"

"It was a manifestation… can we talk about this in a less public setting?"

Sylvanas made a big show of looking around. Other than Rotvine, nobody was in the corridor with them.

"I'll make myself scarce," said Rotvine. "I don't need to see you two reuniting. Again."

"Oh, Faith's not here for a reunion. Are you, my love?"

"I am, but that can come after we've talked."


	53. Chapter 53

Sylvanas took Faith's hand and brought her to their chambers, using one of the secret passageways that led there. Once the door closed behind them, Sylvanas replaced the tapestry to conceal the entrance, "So talk."

"You know I love you," began Faith.

"Of course I know you love me."

"And I don't want to feel anything but love for you. It's just that ever since you raised me… I feel something else."

"You're angry with me."

"I'm not just angry, Sylvanas. Part of me is furious that you did this to me. I thought I was over it, but I'm not. I can't be."

Sylvanas leaned against the wall, looking at her, "It's natural. All Forsaken feel the same, although some of them might feel more despair than anger."

"Right, but I'm not talking about the others, Sylvanas, I'm talking about me. I love you more than anything in the world, and I proved it when I beat the trial, but I'm also mad at you, and I wanted to let you know."

"D'you want to leave me or something?"

"Of course not. I can be angry without wanting to leave you, can't I? My love for you happens to be stronger than my anger." Faith quickly gave Sylvanas a rundown of the trials she had been through, and she listened, finally coming to sit on the bed with her. "I didn't want any of that to come out, you know."

Sylvanas pulled Faith's hood down, examining the pure white strands of hair on her hair.  Despite being brittle, it still looked soft.  "You must have felt your emotions on a whole new level for your hair to change color the way it did."

"Let's just say it was a revelation."

"So… what does this mean for us, if anything?" Sylvanas stared at her, "You're mad at me, but you're not expecting an apology from me, because it won't change what I did. So, what… you just came here to tell me this?"

"I did. I wanted to be honest with you about how I feel."

"I appreciate that. But my first instinct here is to make you feel better, and you're pretty much saying I can't."

"I'm not saying that. I might always be angry with you about this. But what I did learn is that despite this anger I feel, I love you. I really, truly, love you. And that's what I wanted to tell you."

Sylvanas couldn't mistake the sincerity in Faith's voice for anything else. Finding that she had no idea how to respond to Faith's statement, she kept her mouth shut for a moment.

"Say something…"

"What am I supposed to say? I know you love me, and I know how much you love me." She got to her feet and moved away from her lover, "It's never going to be enough, is it?"

"What do you mean?"

"However much we love each other, it's never going to be enough. We can love each other more than anybody ever could, but the fact of the matter is, we're both dead, and we can't live the way we wanted to. You and I will never truly be happy together."

Faith went to Sylvanas, putting her hands on her shoulders, "Won't we?" she asked quietly. "Haven't you been happy with me?"

"Of course I've…" Sylvanas paused. "Yes, Faith. I've had some happy moments with you."

"After your death?"

"Yes. But you haven't."

"I have."

Sylvanas shook her head, her red eyes looking like smoldering blood "You've been grieving ever since I was killed, and that's permeated every aspect of our relationship. And now I get to feel the same thing you did, except that I'm the one who turned you into this."

"By the gods, Sylvanas, I come home to tell you that my love for you helped me get over something huge, and you turn it into something tragic."

Sylvanas gave a watery laugh, "You also came home to tell me you were furious with me."

"It balances itself out. It makes my obsession for you not feel quite so…"

"Obsessive?"

"I was going to say crazy. Then again, I think Garia does think I'm insane, after what I told her about your hair."

"My hair?" Sylvanas looked puzzled, but when Faith told her the story, she started to laugh, "You didn't! Faith!"

"What? I couldn't be with you, we barely saw each other, and the only thing I had of yours was your hair."

"But you  _framed_  it?"

"It was only three strands."

"Three strands of hair that had fallen from my head onto the floor… I don't even want to know what you would have done with my underwear if I'd left it at your house."

Faith got really quiet and looked away from her.

"Faith  _Everstone_."

"What? It fit me!"

" _You wore it_?" Sylvanas' voice was reaching the kind of pitch that bats usually responded to.

"My mother washed it first!"

Sylvanas shook her head, "My girlfriend, ladies and gentlemen… insane in the membrane."

"Oh, you love me."

"Maybe," she muttered.

"You love me," repeated Faith, pressing her lips to Sylvanas'.

Sylvanas put her arms around her waist, "I love you."

"And you're happy with me."

"I'm happy with – where are you going with this?"

Frustrated, Faith pulled away, "Where do you think I'm going with this?"

A slow blink, "Faith –."

"Sylvanas, I'm trying to kiss you. Actually, I'm trying to have sex with you. Will you please be receptive to my advances?"

"You should have just said that instead of trying to hypnotize me."

"I nearly had you."

Sylvanas moved her hands down, cupping Faith's ass, "Oh, you have me all right. Now. Top or bottom?"

Faith's eyes widened, "What?"

"Top," repeated Sylvanas slowly, "or bottom?"

Faith licked her lips, considering, "Top."

"Top? You want to dominate me?" Sylvanas kissed her neck gently. "Are you sure about that?"

"I'm angry with you, and want to make you feel it in every sense of the word." She hooked her fingers beneath the waistband of Sylvanas' leggings, yanking her towards the bed. Sylvanas came along, falling on top of her and not budging, even when Faith tried to flip them over.

"You're forgetting that I've always been physically stronger than you, love," said Sylvanas gently. Her voice sounded like the opening of a tomb.

Faith tucked her hand into Sylvanas' leggings, her fingers finding their way between her legs. Sylvanas closed her eyes. "Maybe. But I can make you quiver and say my name like you mean it."

"Ah, Faith…"

"Tell me what you want."

"I want to keep you here in Undercity with me. I want you safe from harm. Oh… yeah, keep doing that."

"What? This?" Faith slid her fingers between the folds of Sylvanas' flesh, and the banshee shuddered.

"Yeah… that's it."

Smiling, Faith yanked on Sylvanas' hair before latching on to her neck and sucking at the skin there. Sylvanas tried to keep quiet, but Faith knew her too well, and soon had her crying out, nearly begging for mercy.

"You know, for someone who's mad at me, you're surprisingly good at making me feel amazing," said Sylvanas afterwards, wiping herself down with a cold cloth. She kissed Faith, "I love you."

Faith went still. It wasn't often that Sylvanas was the first to utter those words, and she found herself suddenly wanting to cry, "I love you."

"Oh no, don't you get emotional on me, Everstone. Come on."

"Nnn, can't we stay in bed?"

"Don't you have somewhere to be? Besides, I have something to show you."

"What?"

"Get up, get dressed, and come on."

"I'm trying to enjoy post-coital bliss here, and you're making me hurry up."

Sylvanas chuckled, straddling Faith's hips, "Fine. You stay in bed, and we'll tell Garrosh that you're incapacitated for the rest of the year. I have no idea how the Pandaria campaign will go on without you, but at least you'll be with me."

Faith shook her head, "That's my line you're stealing." Sylvanas got off her and began getting dressed. Watching her for a moment, Faith thought back to the first time Sylvanas had snuck into her bed and making her think it had all been a dream.

"Do you want your present, or are you just going to lie there provocatively?"

"Oh, it's a present? You just said that you had something to show me." Faith got up and conjured a cloth to clean herself with before going to the closet and grabbing one of her black robes.

"I do have something to show you. Come on."

They went through the city's tunnels, avoiding the major thoroughfares so as not to be held up.

"It's something that's going to help you in Pandaria, I think. It should help you get around faster, although I know you love Winter."

"Sylvanas, what have you gone and done?"

She stopped at the entrance to a tunnel Faith didn't remember having seen before, and she'd seen every corner of Undercity. "I had this built when we found the nest. We've been raising them for months, and they're quite used to the undead now."

A prickle of fear ran through Faith's body, "Sylvanas –."

"You should know better than to think that I'm going to give you a spider to ride. Although I do think that you should be getting over that fear."

"Will you just accept the fact that I hate spiders? Just because I'm a Forsaken now doesn't mean I'm magically going to start keeping them as pets."

"I didn't say anything." Sylvanas took her hand and led her into the tunnel, "We've exposed them to light so that they can grow accustomed to it. I think you'll like them."

"Like what?"

"See for yourself."

The two of them emerged into a large circular chamber. Faith heard the sound of flapping wings, and looked up. She stared.

She'd seen riding bats before – Undercity was full of them – but she'd never seen animals quite like that.

They were pure white bats with red eyes, and much cuter faces than their snub-nosed counterparts. Most of them glided around the room, while a couple of them were on the floor, eating what appeared to be fruit.

"Flying foxes," said Sylvanas, watching Faith. "We found the nest in the hills above the Skittering Dark."

"I thought they were extinct after the Scourge came through here."

"So did we. But evidently some of them survived. We found four nesting pairs, and have been breeding them ever since. There are another two nests in Silverpine that we left alone." Sylvanas whistled.

A huge creature, the biggest one of the bunch, came down gracefully, landing a few feet away from her. Slowly, it came to her, nuzzling her hand.

"This is the one I wanted to show you, specifically."

"It's magnificent," said Faith.

"Ivory is her name. We've tested her against the Scarlet Crusade camp that cropped up again recently. She's excellent." Sylvanas backed off, allowing Faith and the bat to have a moment alone.

The bat, Ivory, sniffed at Faith delicately. When Faith extended her hand, the creature licked it once before giving a soft cry that reverberated throughout the chamber.

Suddenly, all the bats came down behind her, regarding Faith carefully.

"Don't move," hissed Sylvanas.

Move? Faith had absolutely no intention of moving. She didn't feel threatened, but she sensed that these bats could have ripped her apart, if the notion came into their heads.

One by one, the bats came to her, butting their heads slowly against her body. Accepting her.

A moment later, Sylvanas was next to her again, "That was easier than I expected. It took me an hour to get them to accept me like that."

"We just made love, Sylvanas, I probably smell like you."

Sylvanas smiled, "That, and I wore your clothes whenever I came down here so that they could get used to both our scents." She rubbed one of the bats behind the ear, "They'll obey your every command, although I would appreciate it if you could leave a few here for nesting."

"You're not giving all these bats to me, Sylvanas."

"You don't want them?"

Faith smiled, "Of course I want them. Or at least, I'll happily take Ivory, but I don't know what I'll do with all the other bats. There's twenty of them in here, and putting them all in combat situations when there are so few of them left seems like a real waste."

"We have six more bats in the nursery, and one of the mothers is pretty close to giving birth. From what the handlers have told me, she's carrying at least three little ones."

"You've been giving them something to enhance their fertility?"

Sylvanas nodded, "Yes. And these bats grow faster than the average bat as well, so it's a very good thing. I wanted to give you command of the Magi Corps Aerial Unit, so that you could all attack from the air."

"We don't have a Magi Corps Aerial Unit."

"We do now. These bats are more performing than our regular riding bats, and the good thing about them is that you can perform magic while on their backs because they're so steady."

"You've exposed them to magic?"

"Yes. They didn't like it at first, but they got used to it, even the harmful spells."

"Sylvanas…"

A smile, "You're already protective of them. We had to get them used to magic. We didn't harm them in any way. Now, these twenty bats here are ready to go. Ivory's yours, but might I suggest that you give one of these other bats to Carrick?"

"Has he seen them?"

"He has. He's the one who's been exposing them to magic, for the most part."

"Does he have a favorite?"

Sylvanas gave a nod, looking through all the bats, "This one. It's got a tattered ear from when it fought with a sibling. Carrick nursed it back to health after it got infected, and they've been friends ever since. But it's your decision."

"Has he named it?"

"I believe he named it Morton, after his son."

"That's a… I'm sorry, his  _what_?"

"I was as shocked as you were when he told me."

"A son? He had a son? He always told me that Alma could never stay pregnant."

"She couldn't. The longest she went was six months. She gave birth, but it was stillborn. They named him Morton, and never tried to get pregnant again."

"Sylvanas, that's…"

"Sad, I know. Don't you start crying, he got over it a long time ago."

"I would have given the bat to him without that story, you know."

"I know. That's settled then. I suppose that you can give away other bats if you feel up to it."

"What about you?"

Sylvanas looked at her, "Me?"

"Aren't you going to take a bat?"

"I am  _not_  one for flight, and you know it. Besides, if I have to fly anywhere, I'll fly with you."

Faith smiled, "You're afraid of heights, and you tease me for hating spiders."

"I'm not afraid of heights. I just feel more comfortable with having my mount's feet firmly on the ground, thank you."

"Shall I take Ivory with me to Pandaria?"

"I think you should. It would help you survey the land better."

"Wanna come with me?"

"What is it with you and Pandaria? You're determined to have me see it."

Faith shrugged, "I just think that it's a beautiful place, and I'd like to experience it with you."

Sylvanas kissed her gently, "Well, I can't refuse that. Okay, I'll do a flyover with you."

Pleased, Faith took Sylvanas' hand, "You'll see, it's gorgeous."

"I believe you."

They left an hour later, coaxing Ivory through a large portal that led them to the shrine's balcony. The bat was frightened, but handled it well, and was reassured to see Sylvanas on the other side.

"It's okay, Ivory," said the queen quietly. "See? We're right here."

Ivory made a small sound, rubbing herself against Sylvanas' side and accepting a pat from Faith.

"She'll be all right. She's just not used to being away from home, and it's pretty bright over here."

"I can fix that," said Faith. She murmured a spell and Ivory instantly relaxed as her vision darkened. "Is that better?"

It apparently was, because she started looking around curiously. Faith quietly explained to her and Sylvanas what they were seeing.

"You can rent a cloud serpent mount over there to take you to the Serpent's Spine, which borders the Dread Wastes. It's actually a huge wall that goes from one end of Pandaria to another. I haven't seen it yet, but I know that it's an impressive sight. It's meant to keep the Mantid away."

"The giant insects you spoke of."

Faith nodded, "That's right."

"We can go take a look if you want. Ivory can fly long distances without any problem, and she can carry a really heavy load for quite some time."

"We're not really heavy," protested Faith.

Sylvanas laughed, "No, I guess we're not." She walked towards the edge of the balcony, "Is that Mogu'shan Palace?"

"It is, yes."

"It's breathtaking. I don't suppose we can go inside."

"I don't think so, no. I haven't asked, but I haven't seen any visitors going in there."

"Just as well. I suppose that if you had to show me this as well, I'd be here for more than just a few hours."

"You sound like you're eager to get away from me."

Sylvanas rolled her eyes, producing a harness and saddle for Ivory. "I suppose that you can ride her bareback, but this will be safer for you until you both get used to each other." Expertly, she fastened the straps around the bat, who stood there quietly, waiting.

Faith watched her, fascinated as always when she saw her doing something new.

"Stop staring at me and get over here."

Guiltily, Faith approached, aware she would have blushed a few months previously.

Sylvanas handed her the reins. "Okay. You'll control her the same way you would any other mount. That's what she responds to."

Faith climbed into the saddle, feeling Sylvanas getting on behind her. When she put her arms around her waist, Faith shivered. Or at least she thought she did.

"Give her a light tap with your heels and she'll just fly."

Faith did, so, and found herself nearly gasping when Ivory suddenly took off into the sky, her massive wings immediately catching the air currents. She'd flown before, but it had been far too long. She'd forgotten how much she missed it. "Are you okay?" she asked Sylvanas.

"I'm pressed up against you, there's almost nothing better," murmured Sylvanas in her ear.

"Fiend. Oh, look at that."

It was beautiful. There was no other way of describing what they were seeing from above. It was like gazing at an endless sea of gold, dotted here and there with ruby-colored trees. A lake glimmered in the distance, reflecting the rays of the sun.

Ivory flew gently, but quickly, clearly enjoying being up in the sky.

"Is that the spine you mentioned earlier?" asked Sylvanas, pointing in the distance.

Faith nodded, "Yes, that's the Serpent's Spine, as far as I know."

They made their way there, passing a village and what appeared to be a Mogu sanctuary. From where they were, they saw what seemed to be moving statues.

"They move?" asked Sylvanas.

Faith felt uneasy, "Yeah. It's like Ulduar, kind of. They haven't been cursed with the curse of the flesh."

They reached the Serpent's Spine, finding that it was indeed a massive wall that had been constructed according to the architecture Faith so appreciated. Faith waved down to the Pandaren, but didn't get close, as, to her horror, she saw massive bone spiders scaling the wall and attack the defenders there.

"Is there any place on Azeroth that's not infested with those things?!"

"Try an attack," said Sylvanas.

Not wanting to injure any of the defenders, Faith did so, sending an ice lance towards a spider that had just climbed the wall. Surprised, the creature was frozen in its tracks, allowing the pandaren to kill it quickly and throw it back over the wall.

"Good. You see? You can attack from here and be completely out of harm's way."

"Maybe, but it's not the same," said Faith, picking up the reins again. She looked around, seeing a cloud serpent coming towards her. A pandaren was atop it, carrying a spear. "Uh-oh."

"What brings you to this part of the Vale?" he asked.

"Just looking around," said Faith. She gestured to the wall, "Do you need any help?"

"Thank you, but we have been fighting the Dread Waste spiders for years. We can take care of them."

Faith nodded, "If you need help, send word to the Shrine of Two Moons, and we'll come."

"The Golden Lotus thanks you for your offer."

"We leave in peace," said Sylvanas, also nodding as Faith urged Ivory onward. "They're an independent people, aren't they?"

"Definitely. They don't mind help, but they'd much rather do everything themselves. I can't blame them. They've been isolated for ten thousand years."

"Not anymore. We've definitely made sure of that."


	54. Chapter 54

Sylvanas had to admit that Pandaria was an absolutely beautiful place. The pandaren, and the mogu before them, had done a great job of turning it into what it was. She understood completely why Faith had fallen in love with it and why she wanted to help preserve it.

But that wasn't an easy thing to do. Not with Garrosh ordering the Horde to plunder the land's resources for the war effort against the Alliance. Sylvanas was forced to go back to Undercity, leaving Faith behind to hold her own against the warchief.

"I wish I hadn't left her there" she said quietly to Rotvine. "I know she's in good company and that she can take care of herself."

"But you don't trust anybody to take care of her better than you can. Even though she really doesn't need anybody to take care of her."

"I know."

"Trust her to do the right thing. Now that she can teleport to you, she'll come home whenever she has need of you."

"She always has need of me."

The statement was completely true. Faith needed Sylvanas constantly. It wasn't for anything specific, but Faith felt more complete when they were together. Safer. Whole.

Sylvanas had left her almost a month previously, and she hadn't stopped yearning for her lover.

_I wonder if I'll ever stop missing her when she's not with me_ , she said to herself as she and Ivory surveyed the Serpent's Spine. The bat had grown used to her, and now sought her out in a way Winter never had. She was a good companion, much like Prince and Lady had been. It was a little taste of home.

"Anything to report?" asked General Nazgrim as she landed at the Shrine of Two Moons again.

Faith shook her head, "All seems quiet. The Alliance aren't moving from their shrine, just like we're not moving from ours. I think that we might all be content for now not to start another battle."

Nazgrim snorted, "We should be seizing the opportunity to take them down."

"The sha are too close to the surface. Nobody wants to risk bringing them out again."

"You can tell that to the warchief when he gets here in a few days."

"What do you mean when he gets here? Garrosh is coming?"

"Yes."

A disquieting feeling came to her. Garrosh in Pandaria? That wasn't good news for the Horde, and certainly not for the Alliance. "Did he give a reason for coming here?"

"I didn't ask. All I know is that he's coming, and that he has asked you personally to meet the landing party in the Krasarang Wilds. You should probably leave today if you hope to get there before they arrive."

Faith pursed her lips, "I'll prepare a group for the journey. Is he all right with having Forsaken or does he want others to meet him?"

"You know how he feels about the Forsaken, Faith."

"Sure I know, but they're still some of the best we have out there, not counting the ones that were killed at Razor Hill when the inn blew up."

Nazgrim glared at her, "I thought you didn't remember anything from that night."

"I remember the explosion," she said. "And I remember the people who were in the inn."

"The Alliance did that, you know."

Faith forced herself to keep her expression neutral, "Regardless of that, you're telling me that I need to go to the Krasarang Wilds. If Garrosh doesn't want Forsaken to meet him there, why is he asking me to go?"

"He has his reasons. I suggest you find someone to go with you unless you want to go on your own."

"I'll ask for volunteers. If I can scout ahead, I might be able to build a portal that will take troops and supplies directly to the landing site. Does he know where he plans to land?"

Nazgrim beckoned her to follow him inside, where he showed him a map of Pandaria. "Right here," he said, pointing to an area all the way to the west of the Wilds. "It's a perfect spot to hide an entire fleet."

_So he's going to attack the Alliance_ , she said to herself. To Nazgrim, she said, "I'll make sure to have the area ready for when they arrive."

She left Nazgrim and immediately went to find Garia, who was talking to a young Pandaren about fighting techniques. She looked up when Faith arrived.

"There you are. Did you know that Pandaren fight on cloud serpents all the time? I wish I could get one, but, being dead, it's unlikely that they'll allow me to touch them."

Faith smiled, "They're beautiful creatures, all right. Listen, Garia… Garrosh is on his way here."

A look of alarm crossed Garia's features. "Whatever for?"

"I have absolutely no idea. Apparently, he wants me to be the one to meet him, so I was going to go down to the landing site he's planning to use and get it ready. I'd like it if you came with me."

"When is he arriving?"

"A few days, according to General Nazgrim."

Garia goggled at her, "The warchief is coming in a few days and he wants you to prepare for his arrival in the Krasarang Wilds, which are a week's ride away? How is that going to work?"

"It's going to work because Sylvanas gave me a riding bat of my own, which will get us to the Wilds in about a day, give or take. We'll have to stop and rest at Halfhill, but it shouldn't be a problem. Once at the Wilds, I'll create a portal and bring troops over so that we can start building some kind of port."

"Even with a bat, building any kind of port in a few days is impossible."

Faith turned away from her, smirking, "I'll make sure to tell the warchief that you're refusing to help out."

Garia caught Faith's arm tightly, "I said no such thing. I'll come with you, but I don't know what we'll be able to do in such a short amount of time."

"A miracle, maybe." She quickly walked away, going to the main area of the shrine, where every race of the Horde was mingling. Orcs drank ale and ate roasted goat, sitting at the table and laughing. In a corner, a few Sin'dorei were examining a swath of blue silk and talking about robe designs. Across from them, troll warriors sharpened spears and mended armor. "Citizens of the Horde, I have an announcement to make!"

Faith's voice carried loudly enough for everyone to stop talking and look at her.

"We have just received word that Garrosh Hellscream is on his way to Pandaria. I have been tasked with preparing his landing site in the Krasarang Wilds, and I'm asking for any volunteers to help me with this."

Everyone stared at her as though she'd lost her mind.

"Ask General Nazgrim if you don't believe me. He's the one who got the news."

Nazgrim chose that moment to enter the shrine, "Major Everstone isn't lying. Garrosh is indeed on his way to Pandaria."

At this confirmation, everyone stood up and began to move. Three orcs came to her immediately to volunteer for the assignment.

"Thank you," she told them. "If you know of any other volunteers, kindly go find them and let me know. Garia and I will be leaving in two hours for the Wilds."

People seemed panicked. Even some orcs were afraid of Garrosh, mostly the ones who had been loyal to Thrall when he had been warchief.

A tauren walked up to her, his golden brown fur almost glistening in the light of the shrine, "Major," he said to her. "My name is Ahanu Longbrow. My brothers and I would be honored to help you."

Faith smiled at him, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Ahanu. Your father is a shaman like mine, I believe."

"That's right, they work together in Thunder Bluff." He turned, beckoning three other tauren who looked almost exactly like him, "This is Chesmu, my older brother. This one over here with only one horn is Hassun, and the last one is Honon."

"Ahanu, Honon, Hassun, and Chesmu," repeated Faith. "I will do my best to remember your names, but you'll have to forgive me if I don't." She smiled, "Thank you for agreeing to help. I'll appreciate anything that you'll be able to do for us."

They nodded as another orc, this time a death knight, walked up to her. He wore black plate armor that clanked as he walked, and had eyes that shone like blue fire. He had the dark gray skin of the Blackrock orcs, but his death had turned it more ashen. He had handsome features for an orc, and Faith assumed that he would have had his share of mates had he lived.

"My name is Vilak, Major. I come to you to offer my aid."

Faith greeted him, "Thank you, Vilak. What experiences have you?"

"I can kill things. Efficiently."

"I don't doubt that you can."

"I know how to set up a good camp. It was my job in Northrend before I was killed by the Scourge."

Faith gave a nod, "I would be glad of your help, Vilak."

In the end, Faith found herself over thirty people willing to help set up for Garrosh's arrival, even a couple of Sin'dorei.

"Word has it that the King of Stormwind is on his way to these shores as well. It's probably why Garrosh is coming."

"King Varian and Garrosh on the same shores, that doesn't sound good," said Faith quietly. If there was an outright war between them, there would be little that she would be able to do to stop it without getting herself truly killed in the process. "We should get going, Garia."

Garia gave a nod, "I'm ready when you are." She glanced right, and Faith thought she saw her friend's face pale, although it might have been a trick of light. Quietly, they made their way back to the shrine's balcony, where Ivory was waiting.

"If everything goes right," she told the Forsaken handler who was there, "we'll make a portal back here. You should hear from us by tomorrow evening. If you don't… tell Sylvanas I love her and that I went down fighting."

The handler stared at her, "I'm not telling her that. She'll burn me alive."

Faith smiled a little, "If it makes you feel any better, I'm not planning on dying anytime soon."

"You're scaring your Forsaken, Faith," said Garia. Her voice was oddly strangled.

Faith's smile grew, "All right, all right, don't worry. If anything goes truly wrong, I'll teleport Garia and myself to Undercity."

"Are you expecting trouble? We'll be in the air."

"Have you ever seen Alliance canons at work? They'll shoot us down in a hurry if the fancy strikes them."

"Well then, let's get this over with and hope that we don't run into them while we’re on our way."

Faith climbed onto Ivory's back, Garia getting on behind her and holding on to the back of the saddle. "Comfortable?"

"Surprisingly, yes," said Garia.

"Good." She nudged Ivory, who took off like a shot.

It was several minutes before Garia said anything to her, seemingly lost in her thoughts. "Faith… who was that orc you were talking to back there?"

"Which one? I was talking to several."

"He was wearing plate armor. I think he was a death knight?"

"Ah. Yes, he's a death knight. He told me his name was Vilak."

"He looked like a Blackrock. How did he get turned? I didn't think there were many Blackrock orcs who had ventured to Northrend."

"I knew some of them when I got to Warsong Hold in the Borean Tundra," said Faith. "I don't know how they enlisted in the Horde army, but they were there." She glanced back at Garia, "Why the interest?"

"No reason. I was just wondering. I haven't seen an orc death knight in a while."

"Handsome fellow, wasn't he?"

"I didn't notice," said Garia.

Faith laughed, "Yeah, right. I saw you looking."

"Well, I do have eyes, but that doesn't matter. He's probably busy."

Still laughing, Faith shook her head, "You'll have time to get to know him when he gets to the Wilds. He's volunteered to help us."

Garia shook her head as well, looking at the scenery, "Things sure look different from up here," she said.

"They do. It gives one a whole new perspective to be this high in the air. Nice change of subject, by the way."

"I told myself I'd never get attached again. Please don't try to set me up with this knight."

"I wouldn't dream of it. No, really, Garia, I wouldn't. But you don't have to get attached to him. You could just start by being friends."

"Not interested."

"All right, I won't push," she said. "I just miss having a girlfriend to talk to about this."

"You already have a girlfriend…"

"I don't mean that. And telling Sylvanas that I get excited when I see her makes no sense because not only does she see it, but she feels it too."

"You don't talk about girl stuff with her?"

The thought was laughable, "I didn't do that even when she was alive, to be honest. Sometimes we… We kept telling ourselves that we didn't know how we felt about each other, that we were blind to it, but looking back on everything, I knew she loved me, and she definitely knew I loved her. We acted almost oblivious to it at times. It was stupid."

"I can't imagine the two of you not telling each other how you feel."

"I was twelve when I first developed a crush on her, and I might have been fifteen or sixteen when I realized that it wasn't a crush; that I was in love with her."

"How old were you when she died?"

"I was about a century old."

Garia whistled, "So you didn't tell her how you felt for over  _eighty years_? How did you stand it?"

"We didn't live in the same area. For the most part, she was on duty all over Quel'Thalas, and I was down in Everstone Village. We saw each other maybe four or five times a year – more if we were lucky."

"And you still managed to fall in love?"

Faith smiled gently, "We wrote to each other. A lot. I had fifty or sixty of her letters in my bedroom at any given time."

"You wrote letters?" asked Garia, her tone playful. "Love letters?"

"Not  _love_  letters. But we wrote."

"Did she keep your letters too?"

A nod, "Yes. I saw them when I went to her room in Silvermoon."

"That's something else I can't really imagine. She doesn't seem like the kind of person who would keep letters."

"She still does," said Faith. "If it's not an official report, she keeps all the letters I write in her chamber in Undercity. The official reports she keeps in her office."

"And you keep the letters she sends you now. If she sends you any."

"She does. She sent me one just the other day, but it wouldn't be proper for me to reveal its contents."

Garia made a shocked sound, "I think that was too much information, Faith."

"I didn't say anything!"

"But you implied  _everything_."

Faith stuck out her tongue playfully, guiding Ivory away from the Shrine of Seven Stars, which was coming up on their left.

They stopped at Halfhill Market for an hour while Ivory rested and took some food and water, and were on their way again soon after, reaching the Krasarang Wilds just before nightfall.

Faith checked the map of the area she had taken and marked the spot where Garrosh was due to land, then, using a spell, she marked her and Garia's location. A bright white dot appeared on the parchment, and when she urged Ivory on, the dot seemed to move with them.

"That's a neat spell!" commented Garia, taking the map from her.

"Thanks. I wish I could take credit for it, but the Dalaran mages came up with it last year. It would have been useful against the Scourge, but I'm happy we have it now." She brought Ivory down for a landing.

The place they were at, which Garrosh had already named Dominance Point in his letter, was a large piece of land concentrated on a beach, but also located on several rocky islands just off the shore. It had good visibility and there were several schools of fish in the water which would be good for the living soldiers who needed to eat. There was also a small river nearby, and Faith tested it to make sure it wasn't contaminated.

"I've got to hand it to Garrosh: whoever he sent here to survey this land did a good job," she said to Garia, who was checking out the treeline before the start of the beach.

Garia came back to her, "We'll need to place several sentries around the trees, because an ambush could come from there, but you're right. Do you have anything to make camp now?"

Faith nodded, "I have a couple of tents in my bag. They're from Silvermoon, so they're spacious." She took two small canvas parcels from her bag and laid them on the ground, "You might want to stand back."

Garia walked away, and watched as Faith said a few words, moving her hand in one sweeping motion over the parcels, which suddenly unfolded themselves into two red and gold tents that were big enough to accommodate at least ten people.

"Are there cots in there?" she asked, surprised. "How did you fit that in your bag?"

"A minimizing spell to make everything smaller. But it doesn't work on a lot of items." She gathered some dried seaweed and some wood, starting a fire in the middle of the campsite before focusing and beginning to draw some runes in the sand for a portal. "Okay, you go back, and get whoever's ready. Anybody who's not ready can use the portal I'll put up in an hour."

Garia immediately went through, and Faith waited a little. A couple of minutes later, Garia came back, followed by everyone who had volunteered. They carried supplies, which required Faith to alter the portal in order to make it bigger.  They also brought several additional tents, along with food.

It took them less than an hour to set up four other tents and to bring some lumber to begin building fortifications.

"We are certainly able to set up camp quickly, aren't we?" asked Garia, surveying the workers.

"It's Garrosh: we work fast because we know what he's capable of."

"I guess that the Forsaken would work just as fast for Sylvanas, wouldn't they?"

"Oh yes, but that's not necessarily because we're afraid of her. Some of us would sell an arm in order to please her."

Garia started to laugh, "Sell an arm… I don't see her being pleased by you losing a body part. As a matter of fact, I think she would be very upset."

Faith rolled her eyes, "You know what I mean. The Forsaken love Sylvanas. For the most part, anyway. I won't say that she's a benevolent ruler, because she rules with an iron fist, but she loves her people. It just took her a while to notice it."

Looking around, Garia pitched her voice low, "I wish Thrall were still our warchief. He cared about us. Garrosh… he's not really the caring type, you know?"

"Yes," said Faith. "I know. Although, to be fair, there are things he cares about."

"Yeah. World domination," muttered Garia. She stifled a laugh. "Things aren't looking up for the Alliance, though, not if Garrosh is coming."

Faith did think that it boded well for any of them. And about that, she was right.


	55. Chapter 55

Horde ships lined the horizon.

"They'll be here within the hour," said Faith to Garia.

Soldiers on the beach rushed to make the final preparations, but there wasn't much more to be done. In the two days since they'd made camp, they had drastically changed the beachhead.

Eight large tents had been erected, held in place by Faith's strong magic and protected from the forest elements by wooden posts that served as fortifications. Orcs had started to build two towers on either side of the camp, and the work was coming along nicely, both structures now about two stories high.

Crates with weapons and ammunitions had been buried in the sand at regular intervals within the camp, and left open in case anybody needed something quickly. They had been arranged according to type, and it seemed like a good system for all of them.

Faith went to one of the tents, which was larger than the rest of them. It had been reserved for Garrosh, and she had made sure to add a sturdy chair inside, which had been draped with animal fur so that the warchief would be comfortable. There was also a large fur-covered bed, and a table already laden with fresh meat and fruits, protected from flies by an invisible barrier.

"You think he'll like it?" asked Vilak, stepping inside the tent and looking around.

"I think that it's the best we could do in such a short amount of time. Had he given us more warning, we would have been able to do a lot more to prepare for him. This will have to do for now."

"We put some food in the other tents as well for the soldiers Garrosh is bringing. I hope he won't be bringing too many, but judging by how many ships I'm seeing, I gather there are more than this camp can handle."

Faith nodded. She had counted at least eight ships on the horizon, and knowing the capacity of each ship, she surmised that Garrosh had brought at least five hundred orc soldiers with him. "We're going to need more tents," she said. "I'll go to Undercity quickly and get what we need."

"Undercity?" asked Vilak. "Wouldn't it be better for you to go to Orgrimmar?"

"I'll get things faster form Undercity, believe me." She stepped out of the tent, "I'll be back in twenty minutes."

She teleported, landing in the Undercity throne room abruptly. Sylvanas was there, and nearly fell out of her chair in shock.

"You've gotta stop doing that, love," she said, getting to her feet. "If I were alive, you'd give me a heart attack every time."

"Oh, you love it when I surprise you like that."

"I do." Sylvanas reached her and kissed her, her tongue gently sliding into her mouth. "What are you doing here?"

"I need help." She quickly explained what was going on. Sylvanas had known about Garrosh arriving in Pandaria, as Faith had hastily written to her about it, but she hadn't been aware of the numbers he was bringing.

She summoned runners, who took off and returned in record time with more tents for Faith to bring back to Pandaria. "It won't be enough, not with those numbers, but I'm hoping he will have brought additional supplies. Were you able to build a dock?"

"In two days? Not really. We were lucky enough to get a couple of shredders on such short notice, so we managed to put a few planks on the beach. Nothing of the caliber needed for eight massive ships, though." Faith looked up at her queen, "Sylvanas, King Varian is apparently on his way as well."

Sylvanas nodded, "Be careful. Try not to get mixed up in anything."

"It's too late for that. I don't know what it is that he wants from me."

"You're one of the highest-ranking members of the Horde that's currently in Pandaria, and you know the area well. You're also the Horde ambassador to the pandaren, which makes you a valuable asset. I'd call for you too if I were him."

"Baby, you'd call for me, no matter what."

"There is truth in what you say," said Sylvanas, kissing her again. "All right, go. I love you."

"I love you too. Take care of yourself."

A smile, "Go, before I keep you here."

Faith left, carrying her parcel with her. Garia was waiting for her, and jumped when she appeared on the beach, staggering.

"Wow. I really need to get used to doing that."

"You got more stuff? They're almost here."

Garia was right. The ships had gotten much closer to shore. "Yeah. From the feel of this bag, the Forsaken have been using the minimizing spell quite a bit." She took out a small parcel and laid it on the ground.

A couple of spells later revealed a long canvas canopy held in place by four sturdy poles. The Forsaken mages had even thought about including a table, complete with a leather cover.

"What's this for?" wondered Vilak, coming over.

"I'm sure we'll find a good use for it," said Faith, taking another few parcels to the side of the camp where orcs were planting more poles.

By the time the Horde ships launched smaller boats in the water, Faith had installed the final tents, including a huge one that could be used as a meeting place or a mess tent.

"Thank goodness for magic," she whispered to Garia as she watched Garrosh's boat come closer to the shore. It was followed by a few other boats, one of which held a blue figure with shocking red hair. Faith felt relief flooding her body. "Vol'jin's here!"

"Is that a good thing?"

"It is for me," said Faith. "Soldiers, at the ready!" she called.

Everyone already on the beach lined up, saluting as one when Garrosh stepped onto the sand.

"Welcome to Pandaria, Warchief," she told him.

Garrosh nodded, barely even looking at her. "Is that the best you could do?" he asked, glancing at the camp. "Pathetic."

Faith accepted the criticism silently, having known that it would be coming.

"I bring over four hundred soldiers to these shores, and that's the only camp you can set up for us?"

"Warchief," said Vilak, stepping over. "We have done everything we could to make the camp welcoming for you all. We have ale and hot food for everyone."

Vilak was an orc, and Garrosh paid him much more attention than he had Faith, but he was a death knight, which lessened his prestige in the warchief's eyes.

"Good," growled Garrosh. "At least you were able to do that. Who set up the tents?"

Faith shook her head minutely.

"We did," said Vilak, gesturing to himself and the orcs next to him.

"And what did  _she_  do?" he gestured to Faith, who was staring at the water, trying not to react.

"Hunted for food. She knew that you'd want meat after your long journey."

Garrosh snorted, but didn't say anything else, merely moving into the camp. Vol'jin waited a bit, then stepped over to Faith, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"You be doing a good job on the camp, Faith, especially on such short notice."

"Thank you, Vol'jin," she said quietly. "I didn't know you were coming or I would have prepared another tent for you."

"Do not trouble yourself with me. I can make do with other tents."

"We don't really have enough for everyone. Did you bring supplies?"

Vol'jin shook his head, "The warchief said we would have everything we needed here. There are other ships coming too."

Faith could have screamed as she scanned the horizon and saw other ships on their way. Goblins, that time.

"I'll make another supply run to Undercity, though I'm not sure what I can bring for so many people."

She went to Silvermoon that time, bringing back more tents and supplies, including strong wine. Waiting until Garrosh was in his own tent, she used magic to erect everything, while several trolls kindly helped her fortify that newest section of the camp.

"It's times like these that make me happy I'm dead," she said to them. She didn't get tired anymore, but she did feel a dull ache in her body because of how much magic she had used in such a short period of time.

The goblins arrived, and were very pleased with their accommodations. The leader, who was one of Prince Gallywix's friends, spoke to her privately as everyone got settled.

"I didn't think that anything would be ready for us, so thank you for trying, we really appreciate it." He glanced back at Garrosh's tent, the top of which was barely visible through a tree that Faith had left there for convenience. "I heard him say that he hadn't warned anybody to keep them on their toes."

"And he succeeded," Faith told him. "If you need anything else, let me know and I'll make a portal somewhere to get supplies."

"You know he hates it when people use magic…"

"I'm not about to stop using magic because he doesn't like it. But don't worry about it, friend, we'll be all right."

She didn't take part in the feast Garrosh's retinue had that evening. Instead, she fortified the camp site and patrolled, looking for Alliance soldiers. She had seen one that morning, and had quickly told him to get back to his people before anybody else saw him. The man hadn't just run away, he'd appeared to fly as he'd scampered back into the woods.

_It's going to be a nightmare_ , she thought.  _And I'm not sure I want to be a part of it._

But what could she do? Garrosh would find her no matter where she went. Ad if she defied him directly, he would use his soldiers to raze Undercity to the ground, and Sylvanas with it.

A few days passed. Garrosh thought it best that she continue "hunting for food" while the orc soldiers worked on the camp. Faith was more than happy to hunt, as it afforded her with a good opportunity to be away from the warchief. She teleported to Undercity on various occasions for the simple pleasure of being with Sylvanas, even if just for a few minutes.

It was good that she did, as it gave her more control over that particular ability. She no longer felt horribly dizzy when she teleported, which was a huge bonus for her.

"You're really getting good at that," said Garia one morning when she returned to camp. She had appeared behind a clump of bushes, and Garia had apparently been waiting for her.

"Practice makes perfect," said Faith. "And it's really useful."

"It makes me wish I knew magic other than the one Arthas let me have."

"Magic is magic. You just need to learn how to harness it."

Garia snorted, "I'll never be a mage, and I'm not foolish enough to try it."

"I didn't say that you were a mage. But you do have magic in you that you could channel in all sorts of different ways if you tried. That, however, is a conversation for a later time."

"You came back just when we needed you. Apparently patrols have spotted Alliance spies all over the stretch of woods behind camp. Garrosh wants you to find them and kill them."

Faith pursed her lips, "Of course he does. Why is he giving me this task instead of giving it to someone else?"

"Because he knows that you'll hate it, and he wants to make you as miserable as possible," said Garia. "There's also the fact that he doesn't expect you to go through with it."

Faith cursed silently. She couldn't let Garrosh suspect her of betraying the Horde, not again. She didn't want to kill members of the Alliance, but the choice wasn't hers. Without saying another word, she went into the woods that surrounded Domination Point, and started looking for spies.

She didn't see anybody, but she knew she was being watched. Glancing to her left, she saw what appeared to be a tiger, except that it didn't look like any tiger that she'd seen in Pandaria.

"If you think that I don't have the wherewithal to discern a druid from any other creature, you're sadly mistaken," she said to it. The tiger stepped into a shaft of sunlight, and Faith recognized it as a worgen druidic form. It growled.

Faith pulled her spellblade from her belt, "Go on then, attack me."

The attack came, but not from the druid in front of her. Instead, something leapt at her from behind, but she felt it coming. She dropped to the ground, the druid missing her by a foot. A moment later, she had cast a spell that had frozen both druids' paws to the ground. They growled and attempted to shift back into their normal forms, but Faith sent another spell their way, immobilizing them completely.

A horn sounded from behind her, an Alliance one, and a sense of dread came over her. Had Garia sent her into a trap? Glancing back, she saw at least ten human soldiers running at full speed towards where she was.

She had her answer ten seconds later, as the death knight rushed over, Vilak and the Sin'dorei volunteers with her.

"We've got you covered, Major," said Garia.

The battle that ensued was short. They were outnumbered, but they fought well, killing the Alliance forces swiftly and sustaining minimal injuries.

"I'm sorry about that, Faith," said Garia as they collected the soldiers' insignia to bring back to Garrosh. "He ordered me to get you to kill the spies, so that's what I did. But I heard him say later that there were so many members of the Alliance there that they would probably kill you."

"That's when she came to us," said one of the Sin'dorei, who looked like a priest. "We came as soon as we could. It's lucky that you weren't further from camp."

"He hates me so much that he's really willing to see me die," she whispered. "Do  _not_  tell Sylvanas about this, understood? Actually, don't tell anybody. As far as any of you know, you came out here for firewood and healing herbs, and found me fighting the Alliance. Not wanting me to have all the fun, you joined in. That's it."

"What do we tell Garrosh?"

"Nothing." Faith walked over to a tree and picked a few fragrant herbs that grew there, "Here, this will help your cover story."

"You really think he'll believe that?"

"Of course not, Garrosh doesn't believe anything. But it's a start."

They went back to camp, laughing about how the Alliances spies had been some of the easiest kills they had ever experienced. As they passed a group of orc soldiers, Vilak made a show of reenacting the way Faith had run her spellblade through a young man's heart, complete with the way he'd fallen to the ground, convulsing.

"You exaggerate," said Faith, chuckling.

"How many spies were there?" asked a soldier.

"About twenty, give or take."

"You took on twenty Alliance soldiers by yourself?" he asked, loudly enough for Garrosh and Vol'jin to turn their heads to look at them.

"She would have done," said Garia. "But we weren't about to let her have all the fun, were we? We deserve to spill some Alliance blood too."

"I thought Faith was an ambassador."

"Ambassador to the Pandaren, not an ambassador to the Alliance," said Faith. "There's a big difference."

"But you hate killing Alliance soldiers. Didn't you save some in Northrend?"

Faith rolled her eyes, "Did you  _want_  more Scourge against you? I certainly didn't. People keep forgetting what we were fighting over there. We had to work with the Alliance to kill the Lich King. Even the warchief agrees with this." Shaking her head, she walked towards Garrosh, handing Vol'jin the bag of insignias.

Vol'jin opened the bag and whistled, "That be good work, Major," he said.

"Is there anything else you need done, Warchief?" asked Faith.

Garrosh looked like he'd swallowed a lemon, but said nothing. Minutely, he shook his head, before walking away from her.

"You best be watching your step," Vol'jin told her. "He doesn't trust you."

"I certainly don't trust him either, you know." She paused, looking at him, "I heard you're having some problems with his policies."

"I think most people in da Horde be having problems with things he does, except for the war-hungry."

Faith didn't smile, "You're no longer living in Orgrimmar?"

Vol'jin shook his head, "No. I wanted to live with da Darkspear on our island. It was good for me to reconnect with them."

A nod, "I can understand that." She glanced at Garrosh's tent, "How did he feel about it?"

"Didn't realize it until a few weeks after it happened." He smiled when he saw the look on Faith's face, "To say that he was pleased would be a lie. But he didn't do anything. Truth be told, though, ever since what happened in Theramore, a lot of members of the Horde have been cautious."

Faith took Vol'jin aside, walking out of camp and towards the sea under the guise of looking for seashells, something she hadn't done in decades. "Cautious. Because he's a little volatile?"

"It is more than that. Everyone knows that he was the one who orchestrated the bombing at Razor Hill. And when it comes to the way he killed you… those who aren't sure he ordered your assassination suspect that he did. What he did not expect was that you would manage to teleport to Sylvanas, and that she would raise you."

"I already know my life is in danger, Vol'jin. Even when I go to Undercity, I need to be careful, because of the Kor'kron that patrol the streets. He wants me dead, even now."

The troll looked at Faith shrewdly, "He does. I am happy that you were able to get away from the Alliance patrols. It is a good thing that your friends managed to get to you on time."

"I could have handled myself out there. But I'll admit that I didn't want to kill them, even if they were mostly worgen." She shook her head. She had originally planned to just take their insignias and draw some blood to make it look like she'd battled them.

"You would have handled yourself in bits and pieces, and you know it. You're good, Faith. Excellent even, because Sylvanas trained you well. But even you would not have been able to fight twenty soldiers on your own."

Bursting into laughter, Faith put her hand on Vol'jin's shoulder, "I'm glad you're here. It makes this more bearable than it would have been otherwise."

They went back to camp, talking light matters as soon as they were within earshot of Garrosh's elite guards.

"I didn't know you liked shells," said Garia, spotting them and walking over.

Faith looked down at the pearly shells in her hands, "I collected seashells when I lived in Quel'Thalas. Our village was inland, so we didn't have access to the ocean. But Windrunner Spire was at the beach."

Garia smirked, "So wait, instead of spending hours gazing at Sylvanas, you would look for  _seashells_?"

"I didn't spend  _hours_  gazing at… okay, I guess I did, but that's beside the point. She wasn't always there when we went to see her parents…" her voice trailed off as Garrosh came out of his tent, glaring at her. Quickly, she made the shells disappear and turned towards him.

"You did a good job today against the Alliance," he said.

A good job? He was telling her that she'd done a good job?

"You and the others helped us secure the beach, as we will be able to extend the camp, starting tomorrow."

Faith gave a nod, not speaking. For some reason, she was having flashbacks of being in the Carrion Fields beneath Naxxramas. Her senses were alert.

"I have a mission for you, Major." He looked at her, expecting an answer.

"Of course, Warchief. What is it that you would like me to do?"

"I know that you have been working a lot with these pandaren, since you are their ambassador."

She nodded again, arranging her features into a neutral expression.

"Do you think that there is a way to get this faction," he glanced at one of his lieutenants, "these Shado-Pan to officially join the Horde?"

"You want the Shado-Pan to become an exclusive Horde organization?" she asked him, wanting to be certain that she had understood his absurd request.

"I'm sure you can do it. After all, you saved them from the sha, did you not? You can leave now to begin negotiations."

Frowning, but unable to refuse a direct order, Faith looked around, "Shall I go alone, or should I bring others with me?"

"You need someone to hold your hand?"

She whistled for Ivory, who immediately came over, "I'll go right away then."

"You do that." He turned to Vol'jin, "I have something I'd like for you to do too, if you don't mind."

Dread curled in Faith's stomach as she saddled Ivory. Garia came up to her, pitching her voice low, "You don't really think that you –."

"I have a better chance of getting Greymane to adopt Sylvanas than to get Taran Zhu to join the Horde," hissed Faith. "He's planning something, and wants me out of the way. You're going to have to be careful, Garia." She took a stone out of her pocket and handed it to her friend.

"What's this?"

"My hearthstone. It will take you back to Undercity in a second when you activate it."

"I can't take that from –."

"Yes you can. I can teleport to Undercity if I need to, don't worry. You're going to need this to get to Sylvanas quickly if anything happens."

"If I get to Undercity without you…"

"I'll tell her that you have the hearthstone so that she doesn't completely lose her mind, don't worry. This is just as a precaution."

"Where will you go?"

Faith shrugged, "Back to the Monastery. I'll see what to do afterwards." She glanced back, seeing Vol'jin's eyes trailed on her. He nodded encouragingly, and she nodded back before climbing onto Ivory's back and taking off into the night.


	56. Chapter 56

The sun was setting as Faith touched down on the Serpent's Spine. It had taken her some time to figure out what she was going to do, since Garrosh didn't seem to want her around Dominance Point.

Part of her was worried, but she was happy to have the opportunity to work with the Shado-Pan again.

She had seen Sylvanas a couple of hours previously. The Banshee Queen had been fairly alarmed at the thought of Garrosh wanting her away from him, but neither of them could figure out what he really wanted to do. They had agreed that Faith should work with the Shado-Pan for a while, helping them with whatever they needed.

"If you get questioned about it, you can say that the only way for them to consider joining the Horde was for you to work with them for a bit." Sylvanas had brushed a lock of hair away from Faith's face, "Does he really expect you to get them to join us?"

"Of course not. But he does want me out of the way, and I'm only too happy to oblige."

Sylvanas had shaken her head. "By the way. The next time you try to hide the fact that you were nearly killed… I'll –."

"Kill me?" Faith had asked innocently.

She smiled a little as she dismounted and made her way down to where a group of pandaren were reinforcing a camp they had erected, adding sandbags and wooden posts to the entrance in order to have some cover. On the other side of the road, Faith could see some yaungol doing the exact same thing at their camp.

"Are you Major Faith Everstone?" asked one of the monks, looking at her as she approached.

"I am," she told him. Raising her hand, she aimed a spell towards the entrance of the camp, and the posts settled in more firmly, pale violet magic surrounding them. "I was told you needed some help."

"We do, but you are urgently needed elsewhere."

"Are you sure?" Faith looked around, "It seems to me like you're all gearing up for one hell of a fight."

"Things are rough here, it is true. We are fighting several threats in the Townlong Steppes. The yaungol here, the mogu on Shan'ze Dao, and the mantid in the west. That is actually where you are needed, Major. We had received an urgent plea for help at Niuzao Temple."

"Niuzao?" asked Faith "You mean the Black Ox?"

"Yes. He has asked for help, and we were told by one of the Lorewalkers that you were more than capable of coming to his aid."

"If one of the August Celestials needs my aid, I'll certainly go. Would you happen to have a map of this zone?"

The pandaren nodded. "Just this way," he said, leading her towards a tent. He emerged a few seconds later, carrying a rolled-up map, which he then gave to her. "You want to go to the Shado-Pan Garrison. They'll be able to help you get to the temple."

"Thank you, friend." She murmured a spell, waving her hand at an empty table nearby. Suddenly, the table glowed a bright yellow, and twenty loaves of buttered bread appeared there, along with mugs of cold ale. "Here you go. It's not much, but you and your friends should eat something before the next attack."

"Food!" cried one of the monks, rushing towards the table. "How did you do this?" Not waiting for an answer, he grabbed a loaf of bread, split it in half, and began to eat, closing his eyes. "The butter is  _inside_!" he cried.

"Is it good?" asked Faith. "I haven't conjured food in a while, since I can't eat anymore."

The monk nodded, taking another bite of bread. A moment later, three others had converged upon the table, also beginning to eat.

"Thank you, Major. This will definitely help us."

Faith smiled, "I'm glad. Good luck to all of you." Murmuring another spell, she waved her hand again, causing bits of armor and weapons to glow red as they strengthened.

She left the camp soon after, finding Ivory again and making her way across the Steppes. She tried to hurry, but the skies weren't easy to navigate. Mantid were everywhere, and they were as aggressive as the undead spiders Faith had known in Northrend. None of them attacked her directly, but she sensed that they were exceedingly dangerous creatures.

_What in the world am I getting myself into this time?_

She reached the Shado-Pan Garrison before nightfall on the same day, finding a contingent of Sin'dorei there, along with a group of Quel'dorei from the Silver Covenant.

"Faith?"

Faith turned around as she dismounted. "Vereesa!" she cried. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, just something for King Varian."

"Something for King Varian," repeated Faith. "I think it's best if you don't tell me anything else."

"I wasn't planning on it." Vereesa hugged her quickly, "How are you?"

"I'm all right. I'm actually off to Niuzao Temple. Apparently, the Black Ox has asked for help."

"It's just over these bridges. Some Alliance members went over there a couple of days ago, but I haven't heard anything from them since. Is the Horde sending nobody else to help?"

Faith laughed, "Garrosh didn't send me here, not explicitly. If I see that there's nothing I can do, I'll send for reinforcements."

"What reinforcements? There aren't many members of the Horde or the Alliance in this part of Pandaria."

"You're forgetting that I have access to one of the most powerful factions on Azeroth, Vereesa. Sylvanas has a hundred troops ready to help me if necessary. All I have to do if I need help is go home, and she'll have them join me in battle."

"Just like that, huh?"

"It's Sylvanas. I can count on her, and she can count on me."

Vereesa shook her head, "Even now."

"Always." Faith glanced to the west, seeing the outline of an impressive temple on the horizon. "I should go. Be careful, okay? Whatever you do."

"You too, Faith. And… if you get into a sticky situation… you can always come to us."

Faith smiled, "I'll try to keep that in mind." She waved and went towards where a group of pandaren was sparring in a small outdoor arena.

One of them saw her coming and turned towards her, bowing briefly to her in welcome.

"Major Faith Everstone, I presume."

"I am, yes."

"Welcome to the Townlong Steppes. I am Ban Bearheart. I heard a lot about your exploits from Taran Zhu."

"He's not really my greatest fan," said Faith quietly.

"Oh?" the pandaren seemed surprised. "He spoke quite highly of you, after what you did at the Shado-Pan Monastery."

Faith blinked, "I wouldn't have thought that. He tried very hard to keep me from entering the Vale of Eternal Blossoms."

"That might only be due to the fact that the Vale is our most sacred place."

A nod, "I was told that I was needed here."

"Yes. I wish I had more time to show you around and have you meet everyone, but the situation is quite dire at the temple, and we have our hands full with the mantid attacking from the north."

"I'll do what I can. I was told that Alliance soldiers came this way as well?"

He nodded, "I hope that will not be a problem."

_I haven't been ordered to kill any more members of the Alliance, so that's a relief._  "Not for me, no." She bowed, "Thank you, Master Bearheart. I'll go now and see what help I can provide." Quickly marking her location on the map so that she could return to it later, she set off for the bridge, where several pandaren were keeping watch.

They let her through, imploring her to be careful. She started walking over the bridge, but as soon as she had taken a few steps, creatures flew over from above, landing in front of her.

Ranging from orange-brown to greenish-yellow in color, the mantid were taller than she was by maybe a head. They had wings protruding from their backs and wore surprisingly intricate armor. Faith immediately realized that she was dealing with a highly intelligent species, and not the same mindless insects she had fought over the years.

The first mantid, a huge green one, swung its arm, from which protruded a claw that was at least five inches long. It had incredible speed, and had Faith not been trained by Sylvanas – and had she not been Forsaken – she might have been sliced in half. Taking a step back, she raised both her hands, which glowed blue and she said a spell.

The mantid suddenly froze in its tracks, ice crystals forming over its body. It emitted horrible screeches, but was unable to free itself. Its two companions started hacking away at the ice, but they also cut the trapped creature, who screamed even more.

The pandaren converged on them a second later, killing them swiftly and allowing Faith to pass over the bridge.

She stepped onto soft blue-green grass. It would have been pretty to look at if it hadn't been stained with a kind of viscous dark substance that she could only guess was mantid blood. A foot away from the stain, she saw a severed insectile limb.

_They've been busy here_ , she said to herself, walking towards the temple. She saw a mantid on the ground that was stirring feebly, and went to it. It looked at her imploringly, and she ended its life, putting it out of its misery.

She reached the temple several minutes later, seeing many pandaren monks in a courtyard of stone. Some of them were eating and drinking, others were mending armor, while others still were tending to the wounded. Watching over them all was a huge black ox that was ten times its normal size. Magic emanated from it, making it glow faintly.

Faith walked towards it, unafraid but respectful. Before she'd even spoken, the ox had turned to her and nodded.

"Welcome to my temple, young one," he said to her. "And thank you for answering my call for aid."

"I'm happy to help," she responded, bowing. "Should you require it, Lady Sylvanas Windrunner is ready to send troops here as well."

Another nod, "I appreciate that. I think that we might need the help. I see a swarm of mantid on their way here."

He wasn't wrong. Faith could see dark shapes converging on the horizon. Quickly, she formed a portal to Undercity, calling Sylvanas' name as she stepped through it.

Sylvanas was there, and moved right away, calling members of the First Magi Corps to her. Twenty of them arrived at once, and followed Faith through the portal without question.

"I'll send another fifty over as soon as they're ready!" called Sylvanas as the portal closed.

"Do you even know what Faith needs them for?" Rotvine asked her.

"There can be only one reason for Faith to need people that fast: a battle."

"And you didn't jump through the portal after her. That's surprising."

"She didn't say she needed  _me_ , she said she needed soldiers." She looked at the area where the portal had closed, wishing she had gone with her beloved. But whatever was happening, she was sure that Faith could handle it. "Is there any way I could… watch what she's doing?"

Rotvine chuckled, "Sorry, my Lady, but my spyglass doesn't reach over two entire continents. You're probably thinking about a spell, but it wouldn't work – it would only show the future, and even then, it wouldn't be accurate."

Sylvanas looked like she wanted to pout. "It's not that I don't trust that she's going to be okay. But with what Garrosh tried to do –."

"But Garrosh isn't there. Faith's going to be fine, you need to trust in that." He looked around as four mages and two priests came running in, along with a troll druid.

"You called for us, Your Majesty?"

"I did, yes. Carrick, could you, please?"

"It's a good thing Faith shoved her coordinates into your hand," he muttered, taking them from her. Together with the mages, he opened a portal to where Faith was.

The sound of battle immediately reached them. Sylvanas focused, and heard Faith shouting a command.

"Fire at will!" she cried. "And protect that portal! If the mantid get through to Undercity, we'll have more trouble than it's worth!" She jumped through the vortex, startling Sylvanas, "Hi. Thanks for the reinforcements. Don't open a portal there again until I do so, okay? We're facing a full swarm out there."

"Go!" yelled Sylvanas, staring at her.

Faith grinned and left just as the portal closed, landing in the midst of the battle once again. They were outnumbered, but the mantid fell quickly thanks to the additional mages from Undercity. She could tell that they were facing drones, soldiers that were simply focused on one thing: destruction.

There were leaders somewhere, and they were on their way.

A pandaren commander took her aside after she took down ten mantid at once with a freezing spell.

"Major! We are having problems in the back!" he shouted.

"What kinds of problems, commander?"

"Scouts have reported mantid assassins who are attempting to infiltrate the ranks."

Faith hissed. "Damn it. I thought them little more than bugs. Someone should have told me they were cunning as well." She pulled away from the commander and began a massive spell, waving her hands back and forth as she chanted. Four of the other Forsaken mages joined her, and together, they erected a solid wall of ice between themselves and most of the incoming swarm.

"What's that for?" asked the commander as the mantid immediately began to attack it.

"Try to pace yourselves, I think you're going to need it. I'm going to take two of your people and go find these assassins. Once we're done with them, we'll return." She glanced around, and nodded two a young female and the male next to her, "Both of you, come with me."

The pandaren nodded and followed her as she quickly ran off.

"How long will that wall hold?" asked the female.

"Less than a minute. I just needed it as a diversion. What's your name?"

"Yuan," said the female. "This is Shei."

She nodded, "What's the fastest way outside this temple without passing through that swarm?"

Shei pointed in the direction of the northern wall, "This way. There's a sewer opening."

They moved in that direction just as an almighty crash sounded, signaling that the wall of ice had shattered.

"Couldn't you have made the wall stronger?" asked Shei.

"Had I done that, it would have given the mantid time to gather. This was just enough to allow us to disappear without too many of them coming after us. As it is…" Faith's voice trailed off, and she released a spell to her left, catching a stray mantid as it charged towards them. "Some of them also went around the wall."

"They are not mindless insects," said Yuen. "Unfortunately."

"Yes, I'm realizing that. I'll need to remember this when we fight them. Quiet now, I don't want anything to hear us."

They went down into the sewer, stealthily making their way to the outer wall, which was unguarded. As soon as they were clear, Faith coated the area with magic to avoid anybody getting back in that way.

Quickly skirting around the temple, they suddenly found themselves faced with a group of pandaren defenders fighting a swarm of thirty mantid. One glance was enough to tell Faith that the situation was bad.

The pandaren defenders had obviously been fighting for some time, oblivious of what was going on inside the temple. And the mantid they were fighting were strong. Their armor was different, more elaborate to Faith's eyes, which told her that these were officers of some kind.

"Wing leaders!" cried Yuen, dismayed. "How did so many of them get here?"

Faith didn't know, nor did she care at that moment. She leapt into the fray, startling both the mantid and pandaren. Using that element of surprise, she killed one of the leaders in one stroke, and seriously injured another one before it was pulled back by its kind, out of harm's way.

"Keep fighting!" said Faith. "Don't let these cockroaches through!"

Evidently, the mantid understood what she had said, because they renewed their efforts, furious at having been insulted.

"Little," snapped Faith, casting a spell, "horrible," she continued, " _ugly cockroaches_!" She snapped the limb off one of the mantid, who screamed.

" _Kill it!_ " cried one of the wing leaders.

"Oh, you resent that?" sneered Faith. "You are nothing but pests to be crushed beneath my boot."

The mantid screamed again. One of them tried to cut off Faith's head, but she swiftly sidestepped it, kicking it in the stomach.

The pandaren caught on to what she was doing. Soon, the air was full of insults, and the mantid, enraged, lost their focus and began to fight more erratically, thus giving Faith and the pandaren the opening they needed to turn the battle around.

It was bloody, and several of the pandaren defenders were badly hurt, but finally, only three mantid leaders remained, staring at the corpses of their swarm.

"We cannot let them go. They will return to their hive and more mantid will come," said Shei, who was breathing hard. The white patches of his fur were stained a glistening red, and his eye had been cut by a mantid blade, but he was alert, as were most of the pandaren around her.

Faith nodded, staring at the insectile creatures, "Do you surrender?"

" _Never_!"

The three of them charged Faith, but the pandaren leapt into action.

It was over a minute later. The pandaren, exhausted, fell back against the temple wall, trying to catch their breath. One of them was very badly wounded, a bleeding gash at his side that he was trying to keep closed with his paws.

"Tend to him," said Faith.

"We… we can't. We don't have any healers here, they're all inside the temple."

Faith stared at the female who had spoken, someone she had heard called Oxheart. "You fought here without a healer present?"

"We were supposed to have the Alliance healers with us, but they had to go to the catacombs beneath the temple. They were chasing a group of mantid that wandered in there, and they haven't come out."

"That's not the best news I've heard all day. We can't move him back to the temple's entrance, I don't think he'd make it."

"I don't think we can move him at all," said Yuen, looking at him.

"Can't you make another portal? We could take him to your city," asked Shei.

Faith shook her head, "I can't make another portal right now. I know it seems like my magic is endless, but it's not. I get tapped out from time to time." She went to the soldier and knelt in front of him, gently praying his paws away from the wound. "Look at me,  _look at me_."

The pandaren did, shaking from head to toe. A tear trickled from his eye.

"You're going to be all right," she said. She looked down at the wound.

It was bad. She didn't know much about pandaren anatomy, but their intestines looked the same as other living creatures', and his looked ready to spill out of his belly.

"Does anybody have any bandages?" she asked in what she hoped was a neutral voice.

Someone came forward handing her a roll of linen cloth, "Just this."

"It's better than nothing," said Faith. "Okay, someone help me prop him up. Yuen, Shei, do you know the way to the catacombs?"

"Yes… they're not far," said Shei.

"Good. Let me wrap this fellow's wound, then we'll go there and see which healers we can find. Let's hope they didn't die in there…"

* * *

**Author's note:**

This chapter ended up being longer than I anticipated. Or it would have been had I kept writing instead of breaking this particular storyline the way I just did. Anyways, I hope you enjoy it!  Let me know what you think!

Lunarelle


	57. Chapter 57

Faith wrapped the wounded pandaren soldier as best she could with the linen cloth, trying to remember everything she had ever learned about first aid in the field.

"It's been a while since I've been caught out without a healer," she said, checking her robes and pulling out some healing herbs. Conjuring some hot water in a wooden cup, she put the herbs inside and whispered a spell to mix everything together, making a simple potion. It wouldn't be nearly enough to heal the pandaren, but it would be enough to sedate him.

He swallowed the potion tentatively, wincing as Faith poured it slowly into his open mouth.

"I know it's bitter, but it's the best we can do right now." She stood up, looking around, "Aren't any of you monks?"

"We all are, but… none of us know any healing spells. Those are more advanced." Yuen looked down, as though ashamed. "I was supposed to start learning them next month."

Faith nodded. "Okay, I want half of you to stay here with him. The other half will go back inside the temple. Try to find a healer if you can, but be careful, because it's a battlefield over there." Even from where they were, they could hear sounds of battle. "I put a spell over the sewer entrance, but you can use this to break it." She handed a pandaren a small stone on which she'd carved a blue glowing rune.

The young male took it, looking at it wonderingly.

"Any questions?" she asked.

Everyone shook their heads.

"Good. Let's go." She walked away with Yuen and Shei while the other pandaren organized themselves into two groups. "How far the catacombs?"

"Not very," said Shei. "But they are difficult to find."

He was right about that. The three of them spent the better part of twenty minutes looking for the entrance, killing any stray mantid that had ventured that way. But finally, they found it, nestled at the foot of the temple in such a way that it looked like a cave.

"Be on your guard," said Faith as they approached it. She sensed something unusual inside, and felt a blast of cold air coming from its dark depths.

"What's in there?" asked Yuen, stepping closer to Shei.

"Nothing good," said Faith.

She walked in.

The darkness of the catacombs was immediate, seeming to cover her like a blanket. Had she not been Forsaken, she would have been completely lost, despite the exit being directly behind her. The outside light didn't touch the gloom, which felt solid, somehow.

"It's the sha," whispered Shei.

"But which manifestation of it?" wondered Faith, conjuring some flames that flickered brightly above her fingers. They illuminated the area directly around her, but no more than five feet in every direction. Anything could have been lurking there.

They advanced.

The first sha came upon them suddenly, as something even darker than the shadows around them. Yuen made a sound Faith had rarely heard out of a living being before, and Shei had to grab onto her to make sure she didn't run away into the dark.

A sudden vision hit Faith like a brick wall.

She saw Sylvanas dead on the floor of Undercity, her head severed from her shoulders and her mouth open in a horrified scream. Next to her lay Rotvine in a heap of bones, as lifeless as a frozen rat in Northrend.

_Not real. The sha is feeding on your fears…_

Faith cried out once, wrenching herself away from the vision and back into the cold cave. She screamed out a spell, and her spellblade glowed gold as she struck the creature in front of her.

"At least we know what we're dealing with," said Faith. Her voice trembled a little as she shook her head to clear the images from it. "Are you two okay?"

Shei nodded, but Yuen looked horrified.

"Yuen," she said, kneeling in front of her. "Yuen!"

The female pandaren looked at her, her brown eyes wide with terror.

"Whatever you saw, it's not real. It's the sha of fear, it's showing you what you fear the most. But it's not real. I promise."

"I have to go home…"

"You will. But your loved ones are fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I'm sure."

"My daughter…"

"Is perfectly fine and safe." Faith put an arm around her, but there was no way she could lift the pandaren to her feet on her own. "Help me out, Shei, would you?"

He nodded, and together, they managed to help Yuen get up again.

"We should keep moving. I don't want the sha to converge upon us."

"How are we supposed to know how to get back out again?" asked Shei. "We could be lost down here for years…"

"We wouldn't live that long. Or rather, you and Yuen wouldn't live that long. But don't worry. I can sense my own magic, so I'll be able to find where we've been. And if we really run into a problem, I'll create a portal and get us out of here."

"I… I thought you said you couldn't make a p-portal right now?"

"Not immediately, but give me a couple of hours, and I'll be able to create one again. In any case, we'll be okay."

They started walking a little, until the tunnel they were in bent in two different directions. Both of them were so dark that even Faith was having trouble discerning their walls.

"Now what do we do?" asked Shei.

Faith traced a finger on one of the walls, drawing a faintly glowing rune there. However, just as she suspected, the darkness of the tunnel swallowed it, making it impossible for her to see it anymore. "I guess we'll have to defeat whatever sha are in here," she said.

"You think we'll be able to, just the three of us?"

"Of course I do. We have to. We have to find the others and we must get back to the wounded. Just keep focusing on that, no matter what the sha does to you."

Yuen shook her head, "We're never going to get out…"

"Don't be silly," said Faith. "We will." She fought against another vision – a sha manifestation must have been close – and moved forward into one of the tunnels.

Her foot suddenly hit something soft, and she tripped, falling forward and scraping her hands badly on the rough floor and extinguishing her spell.

"Are you okay?" asked Shei.

"Ow… yeah, I'm fine. What was…" she conjured the fire again to see what she had tripped over.

It was a human corpse. By the looks of him, he had died recently, his face a frozen mask of fear. His hair was a pure white, despite the fact that he couldn't have been more than thirty when he had passed.

"What do you think killed him?"

"He seems to have died of fright," whispered Faith. "It looks like his heart gave out, because he's got no marks on him."

"So these sha can kill…"

"Listen to me," Faith told the two pandaren. "Whatever these sha make you see, it's not real. I'm sure you've both been through worse than this, and you'll get through more later on. We're going to be fine. We'll find the people we're looking for, we're going to get out of here, and we're going to help the ones who are waiting for us. Now, please, pull yourselves together."

She got to her feet and put her hands on the pandaren's shoulders.

"It's going to be okay," she said quietly.

"Yeh don' know that, lassie…" came a voice from deeper inside the tunnel they were in.

Faith whirled around, illuminating the tunnel more. She could just make out a figure coming toward her.

He carried a sword that faintly glowed white. His armor was dented, testifying to the fact that he had been fighting in the tunnel for quite some time. When he came into the light of Faith's fire, she saw that he looked much older than she knew he was.

"Haldren?" she asked. She took a step closer, but the people with him suddenly trembled and fell to the ground, covering their heads. Haldren pointed his sword at her.

"Don't come any closer," he said. "We know what you mean to do to us." His hand trembled, making his sword wobble.

"What we mean to do to you?" asked Faith. "We mean to get you out of here. We have an injured soldier who needs your help."

Haldren shook his head, "No. You mean to kill us, like you killed the soldiers in the Krasarang Wilds."

Faith blinked in surprise. How had they found out about that? It had only happened a few days previously. "It was an ambush. I had no choice but to defend myself. Haldren, you know me, we fought together on more than one occasion. We spent days together in Icecrown Citadel, we defeated the Lich King!"

Haldren shook his head, brandishing his sword tighter, "No. Yeh want to kill us."

"Haldren, if I'd wanted to kill you, I wouldn't have come into a sha-infested tunnel to get you! I would have just left you down here to rot!"

One of the people with him, a female night elf with short blue hair, trembled, "That's not true. You want us all dead, l-like your warchief."

"There's no denying the fact that Garrosh wants everyone in the Alliance dead. He wants me dead too, just so you know. He's already killed me once, and I know he wants me to die again. But I promise you that I'm not here to kill you."

They refused to listen to her, and a minute later, the reason why became obvious.

The darkness around them seemed to thicken. Faith suddenly saw herself in Quel'Thalas, surrounded by the Scourge, watching, horrified, as Arthas raised Sylvanas into a banshee. The vision was so horrible, that, for a moment, Faith felt lost in it. She screamed as she saw her lover's broken body, and her soul being literally torn away from it. She could see its tendrils clinging to Sylvanas' bruised flesh, slowly ripped free, one by one.

She screamed again, and in Undercity, Sylvanas heard her, somehow. Suddenly alert, she sat up straight, wanting to get to her, but having no way of doing it.

"Oh, hold on, my darling, hold on," she whispered.

Rotvine came into her office, carrying several bits of parchment. He stopped when he saw the look on Sylvanas' face. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Faith… she's in pain. Something's hurting her."

"Hurting her physically?"

"I can hear her screaming in my head…" Sylvanas felt herself growing close to tears. Closing her eyes, she tried to visualize where Faith was, but only managed to hear her screams more clearly.

"You can't see her at all?" asked Rotvine, coming closer to her.

"How am I supposed to see her? I'm not clairvoyant."

"I thought you and Faith were connected."

Sylvanas gripped the arms of her chair. Faith's screams were like needles of pain in her head. "Yeah," she said. "We're connected, but that doesn't mean that I'm in her body. I can't see what she sees. I can only feel it when things are particularly bad… oh. She's screaming my name."

Her mind flashed back alarmingly to the day Arthas had invaded Silvermoon. She remembered the way Faith had sounded when she'd seen her body paraded in front of everyone. The screams were almost identical to what they had been then, except for the undead inflection in her voice.

"If she's screaming your name, then maybe she's not in physical danger… maybe it's the sha."

"Get me there."

"My Lady, we have no idea where she is. She could be anywhere in Pandaria."

"She was at that temple."

"Which is in the midst of a battle! You can't just show up there!"

"I…" Sylvanas' voice trailed off. "Her screams… they stopped." Fear gripped her so suddenly that she got dizzy. "Did she die? By the Sunwell… did I lose her?"

Rotvine put a hand on her shoulder, "Calm down, I'm sure she's fine… she has to be."

_Faith… baby, can you hear me?_

Miles away, in the catacombs beneath Niuzao Temple, Faith looked up. Her entire body was shaking, and there was some kind of foul-smelling vomit on the floor – hers. Next to it were the remnants of the massive sha entity that had plagued them all.

"Yeah, Sylvanas, I can hear you…" she whispered. "I'm fine." Her voice sounded completely different than what it normally did. It was hollow, horrible.

She tried to get to her feet, but couldn't. Around her, the darkness had dissipated. It was still dim inside the catacombs, but the walls glowed faintly thanks to some kind of lichen on the walls.

Haldren was the first one to get up, shaking his head. His face was ashen, and his beard had new streaks of silver in it. "That was… somethin' else," he said, helping the female night elf, whose blue hair had also been streaked with silver in her fear. "I've never been so scared before in me life…"

"The Scourge scared me a lot," said a tiny gnome. "But that was a whole new level of fear."

A man behind the gnome stood up slowly, nodding, "I was reminded of the fear I felt when the curse was making its way through my neighborhood in Gilneas." He ran a hand over the stubble on his hollow cheeks, "It was horrible."

Faith finally stood up, leaning on the wall, feeling clammy and sick. "I didn't think that Forsaken could vomit… that was an experience." She waved her hand to make the vomit disappear, and that small bit of magic made her so dizzy that her knees buckled under her.

"Yeh shouldn' try to perform magic, lassie," said Haldren, placing a hand on her back. "What did yeh see?"

Faith blinked, "I saw… Sylvanas when Arthas killed her." She shook her head and closed her eyes, trying to keep the images from pulling her under again. "Why am I always seeing that?"

"I suspect it's because it remains the most traumatic event of yer life, lassie," said Haldren. "Can you stand?"

Faith nodded and got to her feet again.

"Is it… dead?" asked Yuen, also getting up. Her fur was also tinged with grey.

The gnome nodded, "Yeah, it's dead. If it had still been alive, the darkness would still be impenetrable." She looked at Faith, "How were you able to kill it while you were screaming like that?"

"I have absolutely no idea. I just raised my blade and struck. We need to get out of here. The pandaren soldier needs us."

The worgen looked at her, "You're a strange one. Killing us, but risking your life and sanity to help a pandaren…"

Faith shrugged, not about to explain her behavior again, especially not to a worgen.

It took them a surprisingly short time to find their way out of the catacombs, but when they did, they all took some time to enjoy the fresh air, even Faith, despite the fact that she wasn't breathing at all.

"You can feel the difference?" Shei asked her. "Between the cave and outside?"

"Of course. I can feel it on my skin. And I can still smell, despite the fact that I'm not breathing. As for how it works, I don't know. I'm not versed in necromancy."

They walked back towards where they'd left the pandaren, but found the area deserted. Barely a trace was left of the soldiers who had been there.

"What do you think happened to them?" asked Yuen, her eyes wide.

Faith made a calming motion, "I know we've all been through a terrifying event, so let's not let fear dictate our movements. Look around. There's no evidence of a scuffle, or of a battle, so I don't think they were taken. But there is a lot of blood here where the soldier lay, so I think that they moved him, despite the fact that it would have been dangerous. They must be back inside the temple."

"Then I guess we should go too," said the night elf.

The worgen shook his head, "I want to go back for Griffin."

"Griffin?" asked Faith. "Oh… is that the man we saw in the catacombs?"

Haldren nodded, "Aye. He was a good man. I met him in Sholazar Basin just before we were deployed to Icecrown. I'd never known him to be scared before we were attacked. I dunno what he saw, but…"

"His heart gave out," said Faith quietly. "I understand that you want to go back for him. But right now, I think that we're needed at the temple, so we really should go there. Once the battle is over, I'll go down there personally and retrieve his body."

"Why would you go? He was nothing to you."

Faith stared at the worgen until he looked away. "No more delays. Let's go. It sounds as though they're still fighting."

They began walking back towards the entrance to the temple, being cautious, but not meeting any mantid along the way.

Once they went back through the sewer, they noticed that the battle was still raging, but that it wasn't the main mantid swarm that was attacking. Instead, they found that a fair few of them had snuck in through unguarded entrances, and were busy striking the soldiers who had been resting.

Mantid immediately fell down upon them. Faith hadn't fully recovered from her overuse of magic and from her terror, so Haldren had to help her when she was barely able to raise her spellblade on time to counter a strike.

"How much magic have you been using, lassie?" he asked her afterwards, when the pandaren had beaten back the sneak attack.

"No more than usual, I thought. Although I guess that I've been creating more portals, and I've been teleporting more as well. It's taken much more out of me than it ever had before."

"You don't sleep, do you?" asked Emyre, the female night elf who had turned out to be quite a capable druid. "Being undead?"

"Sometimes, I wish we did." Faith used a wet cloth to wash her face and her arms, "But we do rest. It's not really sleep, just a restful state that's almost like a trance. I'd never really noticed it before, but Sylvanas does after a long day."

"A trance?" wondered Haldren. "How long does that last?"

"A few minutes at most. It's really useful to Forsaken mages, because we have no other way to recuperate when we've used a lot of magic."

"This burnout didn't happen to you when you were alive?"

Faith shook her head, "Not that I can recall, and I had days of very heavy magical use, if you'll remember."

"Maybe it's just something that happens with the Forsaken, or something that happens when you make too many portals."

"Maybe. Perhaps it's just limited to me. In any case, I'll have to be careful in the future."

She rested for a while, changing out of her robes and into leggings and a tunic that she hoped Sylvanas wouldn't miss, and felt her energy returning bit by bit. By the time night fell, she felt almost completely restored, and made the rounds of the temple, reinforcing barricades in case the mantid decided to return.

"We did a good job on them," said Niuzao, slowly walking towards her. "I do not think that they will come back anytime soon, and if they do, I believe we have gotten some reinforcements at the garrison who will come to us soon."

"That's good news," said Faith. "I wish I could have done more."

"You did a lot. I can tell you this now, being as you've already done what we were hoping you would do, but we wanted you to rescue the Alliance team lost in the catacombs."

Faith looked at the giant ox, "Excuse me?"

"They went to the catacombs to fight the sha who were there, and got lost almost immediately. We knew they were lost because we could feel the sha's influence coming through the temple. The moments you beat the larger entity that terrified you all, things began to get better for all of us."

Shaking her head, Faith looked at the horizon, where distant lights outlined the mantid hive. "You could have just led with that."

"We needed you to do that on your own. We didn't think that the mantid would have sent a team to attack us from behind, so it was very lucky that you were there."

"One of the soldiers died in the catacombs," said Faith. "I promised that I would go get his body."

Niuzao nodded, "That was good of you, but it has already been done. My disciples are already preparing it for its return to Stormwind City."

"Thank you," said Faith. "I can't imagine anybody dying that way. Whatever he saw must have been horrible."

"You managed to get rid of the particular entity that was beneath us. That alone will turn the tide against the mantid, since we will not have to worry about it anymore."

"But I suppose that there's a bigger one out there?"

"There is. From what we know, the Sha of Fear resides in the Dread Wastes. It needs to be stopped, but for now, we cannot spare the manpower for it."

"The Horde and Alliance could, if Garrosh were to give his okay for it. Varian would do it as well, I think, if he were told of it." She rubbed at her eyes, "This war is really messing things up, I'm sorry."

"It isn't your fault. Not directly anyway. I've been told that you tried to help the Alliance on previous occasions."

Faith shrugged, "Whatever help I gave them in Northrend was negated by the fact that I had to kill twenty of them in the Krasarang Wilds. When I found Haldren and the others, they were sure that I was there to kill them."

"But you still helped them instead of leaving them in the catacombs. They might have all died had you not been there."

"I think that they could have beaten the sha on their own. As it was, it nearly finished me off."

Niuzao gave a nod, "Nearly. But it did not." He looked at her, "You should rest some more. I think you need it."

"I'll do that, thank you, Niuzao."

She walked back towards where most of the soldiers where, finding the one she had wrapped before leaving for the catacombs. He was doing much better, and couldn't stop thanking her for what she had done, even if, truthfully, it hadn't been much.

"I'm glad you're doing better," she told him.

"You may call me Chao," he said. "My mate and children will be happy to see me come home."

"That's good to hear, Chao. You did a great job. Where are you originally from?"

The pandaren told her, and proceeded to speak to her for most of the night about his village and its inhabitants. It was a comfortable conversation, and Faith was glad she'd stopped by to talk to him. As he spoke, she thought about her home and family. She smiled.


	58. Chapter 58

The sun was just rising over the horizon line when a couple of wind riders landed in the middle of the courtyard of Niuzao Temple.

An orc got off one of the creatures and immediately ran towards where Faith was sitting, mending arrows for the pandaren archers.

Faith, recognizing Garia and Vilak, got to her feet.

"Are they friends of yours?" asked Yuen, who was next to her.

"They are. I wonder what they're doing here."

Garia reached her. She couldn't speak for a moment, and just looked at Faith, then at Vilak, who joined them.

"What's going on, you guys? What are you doing at Niuzao Temple?"

"Faith… I…" Garia closed her eyes and took Faith's hand, an uncharacteristic gesture. "I'm so sorry."

"You should sit down," said Vilak.

"You haven't even said ten words, and you've already scared me. What happened?"

"It's Vol'jin."

Vol'jin? Fear gripped Faith's heart. "What about Vol'jin?" She looked at Garia and Valik's faces, and thought she already knew, but her mind wouldn't accept it. It wasn't possible. "No. You've got to be kidding…"

"I'm so sorry, Faith, but… he went on a mission with some of the Kor'kron, and… they said they were attacked."

Faith sat down where she was, in the middle of unfinished arrows. One of them poked her leg, but she didn't notice. "They were attacked," she repeated.

"By some saurok. And..."

"Faith, they returned and said the Vol'jin had stayed behind to fight them. But he didn't return. They say that he… they say he's dead."

"No." Faith got up and walked away. "No, he's not dead. He can't be dead." A dusty tear fell from her right eye, rolling down her cheek. "HE CAN'T BE DEAD!" she screamed.

Garia ran to her, "I'm so sorry, Faith… really, I am. I didn't want to bring you that kind of news."

"The Kor'kron just  _left_  him there?" Faith wiped her cheek, but it was useless, as tears kept falling. "How could they have left him? Vol'jin was more valuable than guards!"

"I know. It seemed weird to us too."

"How did Garrosh react when he was told? Did he ask anybody to recover Vol'jin's body?"

Vilak shook his head, "I didn't hear him give that order. He just took a moment in his tent, and went back to business."

"A leader of the Horde is killed, and Garrosh doesn't bat an eyelash… no. I don't want to believe that it's true. Something else happened. The Kor'kron under Thrall would have  _never_  abandoned a leader of the Horde in danger."

"Garrosh brought in new people to be Kor'kron," said Garia. "I don't know whether anybody from before him is still there."

Niuzao walked over to them, looking massive amongst the smaller pandaren. He looked down at Faith, "One of my disciples have told me that you have suffered a loss," he murmured to her. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Would you please allow me to return to Undercity? I really need to speak to Sylvanas and Lor'themar. And… by the Light, how am I going to tell Baine?" Another tear fell from her eyes.

"Of course," said the ox. "Please go, with my thanks for everything you were able to do during your short time here. You have my blessing."

Faith nodded, "It means a lot to me, thank you." She turned away from the ox and started creating a portal to Undercity, beckoning Garia and Vilak to come with her and waving goodbye to Yuen, Shei, and Chao, who were watching her. The three of them waved back, watching them disappear through the portal.

The throne room was empty when they arrived, but Faith could hear Sylvanas in one of the corridors.

"Stay here, please," she told Garia and Vilak.

They nodded, and Faith left them there, hastening down a hallway and practically colliding with the queen.

"Faith!" she cried, steadying herself and reaching out to put a hand on Faith's shoulder. "What in the world are you… are you  _crying_? What's wrong?"

"Keep your voice down," hissed Faith, wiping her cheek again. She quickly took Sylvanas aside, locking them both in a closet. "Something happened."

"I gathered that, or you wouldn't have come rushing over in that manner. And you certainly wouldn't have risked life and limb by telling me to keep my voice down in my own home."

"Vol'jin is dead."

Sylvanas stared at her, "Repeat that?"

"Garia and Vilak just told me a few minutes ago. I don't know how real this is… it seems impossible, but… I mean, I have no idea how it could have happened, it's  _Vol'jin_ , he's not supposed to die, the Kor'kron shouldn't have left him to be attacked by saurok, it doesn't make any sense, and –."

"Whoa, whoa, Faith." Sylvanas put her arms around her, "Calm yourself."

"Sylvanas…"

"Ground yourself for a minute, love. I'm here with you."

Faith closed her eyes, feeling Sylvanas with her. She was a solid presence. Familiar. "I love you," she whispered.

"Good girl." Sylvanas kissed her, "I love you too. Now, start at the beginning, please, because I barely heard anything after you told me that Vol'jin was dead."

"Garia and Vilak are here, maybe I should let them tell you. And we shouldn't do this here. I don't trust the Kor'kron."

"Where would you like to go?"

"Silvermoon. That way we can brief Lor'themar as well."

"Okay. Let's go, then."

Keeping an arm around her, Sylvanas unlocked the closet door and led Faith back to the throne room, where Garia and Vilak were waiting. Faith quickly introduced Vilak to her, before taking them all to the portal room and asking the mages to make them a portal to Silvermoon. Rotvine was there, and Sylvanas asked him to come with them.

"We could use the translocation orb," said Faith. "But I don't want all of us to be seen."

"What's going on?" wondered Rotvine.

"We'll tell you when we get to Silvermoon," said Sylvanas. She pulled Faith through the portal, landing in the warm room just inside the lobby of Sunfury Spire.

Elves had been mingling in the room when they arrived, and the sight of Sylvanas sent them running away, presumably to warn Lor'themar. By the time they got to the throne room, he was waiting for them, along with Halduron.

"This is a surprise," he said, smiling. "We're always happy to welcome you back to Silvermoon, Sylvanas. But I do wish you'd given us some warning."

"This isn't a social call, Lor'themar," said Faith.

"We're sorry to barge in on you like that," Sylvanas told him. "But something's happened."

Lor'themar gave a nod and brought them to the conference room, where they all sat down. Garia began to speak immediately, explaining how Garrosh had sent Vol'jin on a mission with some of his Kor'kron, and how they had returned to tell them that they'd been attacked by saurok.

"Vol'jin stayed behind to fight them."

Halduron blinked, "I don't doubt that Vol'jin would have fought them, but it's quite unusual that the Kor'kron didn't stay behind to help him."

"What was the mission exactly?" asked Faith.

Garia shrugged, "I don't know. It's not like Garrosh told us anything."

"Do you know where they went?" asked Sylvanas.

"To some cave about an hour away from camp. I know nothing else."

Lor'themar ran a hand over his good eye, "When did the mission take place?"

"Oh the same day Faith left, so that would have been about five days ago. Garrosh wanted you out of the way, remember, Faith?"

"What does she mean by that?" Halduron asked Faith.

"Just that Garrosh sent me on an impossible mission to get the Shado-Pan to join the Horde. It's never going to happen, but I went to them anyway, to help them out. The only reason I can think for the warchief to make me do something like this would be to get me away from the camp."

"He already tried to kill you," said Sylvanas. "Don't forget that."

Vilak shook his head, "Are we saying that Garrosh wanted Faith gone because he wanted to kill Vol'jin? Because that doesn't make much sense."

"The Kor'kron would never abandon a Horde leader under attack," said Halduron. "Not unless they've completely changed since the last time I spoke to them."

Faith put her head in her hands, massaging her temples with her thumbs. Under the table, Sylvanas put a hand on her knee, squeezing gently. "Are we sure that this is real? That it really happened, and that it wasn't some kind of sick joke? I mean, we don't have a lot of information to go on…"

"It's precisely the lack of information that makes me think it's real," said Sylvanas. "But I do agree that we can't do anything until we know what's going on."

"At the very least, we should recover Vol'jin's body," said Lor'themar.

Garia made a sound in the back of her throat, "If it was the saurok, there may not be much of a body to find. They… tend to eat their prey."

"But there would be evidence of a fight," said Sylvanas. "Faith, do you feel up to looking for clues? You could go to the cave and see what might have happened."

Faith made to stand, "I'll go now."

"Slow down!" Sylvanas grabbed her hand, keeping her where she was. "You can't go there half-cocked."

Lor'themar nodded, "She's right, Faith. If Garrosh sees you, he'll have a lot of questions that you won't be able to answer."

"I can't take a big team with me," she said. "I have to go alone."

"Like fel you do," Rotvine told her, "I'll go with you."

"So will I," said Garia. "Vilak can go back to Domination Point and keep an eye on things. Garrosh likes him."

Vilak snorted, "No he doesn't. I'm a death knight."

"You're a male orc, he trusts you more than he trusts any of us in this room."

"That's settled, then. Faith, Carrick, and Garia will go back to Pandaria and try to find out what happened to Vol'jin. Vilak will go back to Domination Point and keep a discreet eye on Garrosh."

"Someone needs to go to Thunder Bluff and alert Baine of what happened," said Faith. "And I guess that we should try to find Thrall, wherever he might be."

"I can send people to talk to Baine," said Sylvanas. "Lor'themar, could you spare people to look for Thrall? Do we even know where he is?"

"I think he's in Nagrand. I might be able to find a few people to look for him, but can't go there myself, as I have people ready to go to Pandaria. We have a problem there as well, by the way."

"What kind of problem?"

"Lei Shen."

"The Thunder King?" asked Rotvine, surprised.

"Yes. Apparently, he's back, and amassing forces on the Isle of Thunder in Pandaria. We're going to join the Silver Covenant there and strike at him together. Lady Liadrin is there now."

"So  _that's_  what Vereesa was doing at the Shado-Pan Garrison!" exclaimed Faith. "She said she was doing something for Varian."

Halduron shook his head, "By the Sunwell, there are too many things going on. The mantid, the sha, the mogu, the war against the Alliance, and now Vol'jin… we're stretched thin as it is."

"You forgot the Zandalari trolls," said Sylvanas. "But otherwise, you've succinctly summarized what's going on in Pandaria."

There was silence around the table as everyone tried to figure out what to do next.

Faith spoke after a minute, "I guess we might as well go now. Carrick, would that be all right with you, or do you need to do something else first?"

Rotvine shook his head, "It's fine with me, if Sylvanas can spare me. We'll need to get some supplies first, but I guess we can get them here."

"Help yourselves to anything you might need," said Lor'themar.

Faith nodded, kissed Sylvanas briefly, and left the room with Rotvine and Garia. They allowed themselves half an hour in one of the city's shops, where Faith bought a bag, additional clothes, and potion ingredients along with a couple of daggers that she enchanted quickly with a spell so that the blades glowed blue.

Garia bought herself an axe that looked almost dainty, but was wickedly sharp, and Rotvine got some crystal powders and poisons, along with various bits of parchment.

"Let's go," he said. "Where should we make the portal to?"

"We can't go to Domination Point, it's too dangerous," said Garia.

"I left Ivory at Niuzao Temple, so I should go get her. Stay here, I'll keep the portal open, and come back with her."

"Can't we just go back to the temple and ride back to the Wilds?"

"It'll take at least a day to go to the Wilds. Whatever evidence is in that cave might disappear if we wait that long."

"Let's go first to the temple, then we can see what the pandaren have to say. It's their land after all, so maybe they'll be able to give us some ideas about where we can safely go."

Faith nodded, creating the portal with Rotvine's help. They landed back in Pandaria seconds later, and the first thing Faith saw was Ivory being restrained, as she was going completely berserk at having been left alone. She whistled once.

Ivory froze and turned towards her. Giving a shrill cry, the bat broke free from the restraints and half-stumbled, half-flew towards her.

"Oh, my darling, did you really think I was going to abandon you here?" Faith hugged her, "I'm sorry I left, but it was an emergency. Hush, now, it's all right." She stroked Ivory's fur and spoke to the few pandaren who came over, explaining what was going on.

"Well, you could always go to the Temple of the Red Crane," said Chao, handing Ivory a red apple to eat. "You helped the disciples there get rid of the sha, did you not?"

"I did, along with Prince Anduin." She took out the maps she had of the Krasarang Wilds, where Dominance Point was clearly marked. It wasn't far from the Temple of the Red Crane, and Garia confirmed that the only cave in that area was the one Vol'jin must have been sent to.

"It's halfway between the camp and the temple," Garia told her. "I really think it's the best way to go."

Faith nodded, "I trust you. Let's go, then."

Once they had decided on where to go, they didn't linger long. Niuzao bade them good luck, and offered them various potions to aid them on their journey, telling them that they were welcome to come back if they needed anything from him.

Ivory was able to carry the three of them easily, and they managed to get to Chi-Ji's temple quickly enough. The red crane was there, having somehow anticipated their arrival and prepared maps for them.

"How did you know we were coming?" Faith asked him.

"We are August Celestials. We have ways of communicating with each other," he told her. "I think I know where you might find what happened to your friend, if what I was told about him is accurate."

"What you were told?"

Chi-Ji nodded, walking towards a detailed map on the wall. "I have disciples all around the Krasarang Wilds, and they see much, even though they are not seen. They saw your friend entering a cave around this area," he pointed to a part of the Wilds that wasn't far away from Dominance Point.

Faith took note of it, handing the piece of parchment to Rotvine.

"He was followed by a few large orcs, who came out of the cave about fifteen minutes later. But your friend does not seem to have made it out of there."

"Was there any mention of saurok?" asked Garia.

"Saurok? No, there have not been saurok in that cave for a while. They tend to avoid it."

"We should go there now," said Rotvine. "Thank you for your help."

The crane nodded. "Come back here once you find something out."

"We will."

Faith went to Ivory, instructing her to remain at the temple. "We'll be back soon," she said quietly to her. "I promise."

"We will take good care of her," said Chi-Ji.

"See? They'll be good to you." Faith hugged her and quickly left with Garia and Rotvine.

"I wish we could visit this temple more thoroughly," said Rotvine in a low voice, looking back at it. "It's been beautifully crafted."

"They were lucky that the sha didn't destroy it," Faith told him as they advanced through the lush forest.

They quieted down as they kept moving, not wanting to alert anything to their presence. Faith had a small map that magically tracked their progress, and they could see themselves edging closer to their destination.

They found what they were looking for half an hour later.

The cave lay nestled on the banks of a river, nearly hidden by a tree. It was pitch black inside, and very difficult to see anything, even for the three of them. Rotvine conjured a few flames which hovered above their heads, illuminating the walls and the sand beneath their feet.

"That's blood," said Garia, as the flames passed over something red glistening on the wall. She touched it and examined her fingers, "I can't tell whether it's troll or saurok blood, though."

"Chi-Ji said that saurok avoided this cave," said Rotvine. "I can't think of a reason why he would lie to us about that."

"It's possible that saurok returned to the cave," whispered Faith. She walked further inside, coming to a bend in the passage, which she followed. " _Anar'alah Belore…_ "

Rotvine and Garia ran over, "What –."

They had arrived in a large chamber within the cave. It wasn't a natural one, which was obvious by the way the walls had been smoothed. Carvings covered every inch of them, but that hadn't been what had shocked Faith.

The sand of the chamber was red with blood. There had obviously been a struggle there: bits of armor littered the ground, and there was evidence that someone or something had fallen there, bleeding heavily.

"I wish Sylvanas were here," said Faith in a low voice. "She'd be able to make sense of this."

"She trained you," said Garia. "You can do this too."

"Not as well as she can, and time is of the essence." She raised her hands towards Rotvine's flames, and they brightened, blinding them for a moment.

"Ah… Faith, you do realize that we can see in the dark, right?" said Garia, rubbing her eyes.

Faith bit her lip, "Sorry… it's a habit."

She crouched, looking carefully at the floor of the chamber, trying to discern any sort of pattern. She recognized Vol'jin's footprints easily, and also saw the footprints that belonged to the Kor'kron that had accompanied him.

After ten minutes she stood again, "I see absolutely no evidence of any saurok having come into the cave. Had they done so, they wouldn't have hidden their footprints."

"So Vol'jin was here alone with the Kor'kron," said Rotvine, shaking his head.

"They killed him…" whispered Garia.

Faith closed her eyes, "Please don't tell me that Garrosh ordered Vol'jin's assassination…"

"I can think of no other explanation," said Garia. "I don't see any weapons here that belong to the saurok, and you say yourself that there's no evidence of them here."

"There isn't… but for the warchief of the Horde to assassinate a Horde leader…"

"It wouldn't be the first time," said Rotvine. "And he had you killed. It's not a big stretch."

It wasn't, and Faith knew it. "I just have one question for you. If Vol'jin's dead… where in the world is his body? If he had been killed in here, his body would be there."

Garia nodded, "They must have carried him out of here and dumped him somewhere."

Faith ran a hand over her eyes, "We need to be sure of this. And I mean  _sure._  Because it's all well and good not to like him, but to accuse him of murder…"

"Faith, I don't know what to tell you. You're telling us that there are no other footprints here. The only bits of armor here are Vol'jin's and the pieces belonging to the orcs. There is no evidence of anything else happening in this chamber."

"We should report back to Sylvanas," said Rotvine. "She can tell us what we should do from here on out."

Faith left the chamber and walked back towards the mouth of the cave, feeling numb. She glanced down. It was faint, but she saw a drop of blood at the entrance. The Kor'kron could have dumped Vol'jin's body anywhere.

"Had they dumped him in the river here, he would have washed up close to camp," she said, sensing that Rotvine and Garia were behind her. "Someone would have seen it, and it's something that Garrosh wouldn't have wanted."

"So you think they would have carried him somewhere else?"

"Probably. But they could have gone anywhere." Faith sat down where she was, "This is a nightmare."

Rotvine put a hand on her shoulder. "Let's go back to the temple. I'll make us a portal back home, and we can see where we go from there. There's nothing more we can do here, Faith."

Faith nodded, saying nothing.


	59. Chapter 59

Sylvanas wove her way through Undercity's secret passageways, wanting to reach the meeting as soon as possible. It had taken her some time to shake the orc tailing her, but she'd finally managed it.

She got to the meeting room quickly enough, glad that she'd had it built, even though it was out of the way. The air was very cold inside, and while it wasn't a bother to her, she had a feeling that the people who were coming to the meeting would be uncomfortable.

"There you are…"

Turning her head, Sylvanas saw that Faith was already there, and was sitting against one of the dark walls of stone that made up the room. Sconces placed strategically at regular intervals held plain torches, some of which had been lit by Faith's merry flames, spreading their light over a stone table and several plain chairs that had been haphazardly thrown around it.

"Come here," said the Banshee Queen. The two of them hadn't had a moment alone since Faith had returned with news of Vol'jin. That had been a week previously.

Faith got up and walked to her, not stopping until she was in her arms. "I don't know what to do…"

"Shh, sweetheart. You knew exactly what you needed to do. You came to me. And we're going to figure this out." Sylvanas kissed her, her fingers gently skimming the skin on Faith’s cheeks, "We're okay. Everything's going to be okay."

Closing her eyes, Faith took a few moments to compose herself, running her fingers over Sylvanas' back. "Are you wearing velvet?"

Sylvanas smiled, "Trust you to notice that."

Faith stepped back for a moment, taking in Sylvanas' outfit. She was wearing a long black velvet tunic over black velvet leggings that laced up the side, exposing her skin. "By the gods, Sylvanas, are you trying to distort my senses completely?" She knelt, placing her hands on the laces, "You think we have time to –."

"I'm pretty sure someone will walk in on us, and they'll accuse us of not taking this situation seriously."

"You think I'm not taking it seriously?" asked Faith, her voice trembling. She stood, "You are the only person on the planet who gives sense to my world. It's only natural that I come to you when everything turns to chaos."

Sylvanas smiled gently, putting a hand on Faith's cheek, "I love you, and I'm here for you. You know that." A soft kiss, "When things get rough for me, I always wonder what you'd do in my stead. I can't run to you all the time because you have your own things to deal with, but you help me through everything, whether you know it or not."

"But you  _can_  run to me. Why don't you?"

"Because I'd like for you to have as good a life as you can, and that means not burdening you with Undercity's problems."

"Your problems are my problems. I'm your lover, Sylvanas. Your girlfriend. I hope you don't think that that's only for sex, because it's not the way I feel." Faith cupped Sylvanas' face, "You can lean on me whenever you need to."

"I know, baby. Most of the time, you make everything better just by being in the room with me. You complete me when you're near me."

Faith pressed her forehead to Sylvanas', closing her eyes. "I'd like to give you what you need," she whispered.

"You do. Every day. One day, we'll live in a world where you won't need to be away from me all the time. I don't know what kind of world that will be, but it'll happen." Sylvanas kissed her, relishing it when Faith made an odd sound in the back of her throat and kissed her back. When they pulled away, Sylvanas saw that Faith was looking at her in a familiar way.

Clearing her throat, she stepped back, breaking physical contact with her and hating herself for it.

"What do you want to do about Garrosh?"

Faith took a while to answer, running a finger over her lips. "I don't know, Sylvanas, that's why I came to you."

"I get why you came to me. I'm asking you what  _you_  would like to do." She went to lean against the table in the center of the room, crossing her legs and arms, looking at Faith.

"About Garrosh? He shouldn't be warchief, Sylvanas. He doesn't care about the Horde at all. I mean, anybody who disagrees with him ends up dead. That's not something that's supposed to happen. He's not supposed to be killing us off."

"So, you want him dead?"

"You're the one who wants him dead for what he did to me."

Sylvanas conceded the point, "Yes. I want him to suffer a little before he dies, though."

"Just a little?"

"Fine. I want to rip open his chest and slowly tear apart his organs one by one until he dies. I want his blood to flow over my hands as he struggles for breath. I want him to feel his life ending, slowly. I want him to beg for mercy."

Faith blinked, "Remind me to never get on your bad side."

"You asked."

"I'm sorry I did. I don't like to hear you talking like that."

"I was a member of the Scourge for a year, Faith. You can expect some residual evil to crop up every once in a while."

"You're _not_  evil!" cried Faith, crossing the room so fast that Sylvanas started. "You're not!"

"Calm down."

"No! I won't have you say things like that about yourself! Nobody understands what you've been through!"

"You're going to want to stop screaming at me, Faith. Right now."

"Sylvanas –."

She put a hand over Faith's mouth, "Stop. Screaming."

Faith disengaged herself from Sylvanas, "You're not evil."

"You've told me on more than one occasion that I'm turning into Arthas."

"Because you keep raising the dead. That doesn't make you… you're not evil."

"You can repeat it dozens of times, Faith, it won't change who I am. And I'm okay with it, although you seem to have a problem with it."

"You're not evil," said Faith again. "Nobody who loves me as much as you do can be evil." She stepped forward, and Sylvanas uncrossed her legs, pulling her to her. "You've done several things I don't agree with. But you've done a lot of good, too."

"Such as?"

"You trained an impeccable army who helped take down the Lich King. You helped get the Scourge out of Andorhal and Quel'Thalas."

"You do realize that you're the one who did that, and not me, right?"

"But you were there with me. You got the twins out of Scholomance."

"Again, that was you."

Faith shook her head, "It was you too."

Sylvanas wrapped her arms around Faith's waist, "Why are you so determined to paint me in a good light?"

"Because you care about your people. You care about your family, and you care about me. You would do anything to make sure that we were all right. You're capable of love, Sylvanas. Evil beings can't love."

"I assure you, evil people are capable of love."

"No, they're not. Not the kind of love you have for me. They're capable of obsessive love, selfish love that gives them what they want. But your love, Sylvanas, no, baby, it's not selfish."

"So you don't think that I raised you out of selfishness?" asked Sylvanas, skeptical.

"You raised me because you love me and can't stand to live in a world where I don't exist."

"Yeah, okay, but you don't think that was selfish of me?"

Faith looked down, not answering.

"That's what I thought," said Sylvanas quietly. "I love you, of course I love you. But I'm not a good person, Faith. I'm not the woman I was when I was alive, you know that. Don't shake your head at me, you know that the Scourge turned me evil. When I got away from Arthas I hated everything.  _Everything_. Are you forgetting what I was like when you found me again, Faith?"

A dusty tear coursed down Faith's cheek. "I could never forget that…"

"Then you remember that it took me quite some time to warm up to you again. It's thanks to you that I remembered how to love. But when you're not with me, baby, I'm a completely different person. Why do you think that most of Undercity hates dealing with me unless you're present too?"

"That still hasn't… changed?"

Sylvanas shook her head, "No. And I can't help that. It's who I am now. I can try a hundred ways to be nice and accommodating, but it's going completely against my new nature. The only thing that's keeping me even remotely in line… is you."

Crying openly now, Faith looked into Sylvanas' red eyes, "What does it mean for you, to love me?"

"It means what it always did. I want to be with you, and I want to protect you from everything. I've done a great job of it so –."

Faith kissed her. Deeply. Surprised, Sylvanas kissed her back, pulling her closer. Her hands slipped under the waistband of her leggings and pulled –.

"Wow, I really hope we're not interrupting anything," came Lor'themar's voice.

"We can come back later if you'd like," said Baine, who was right behind him.

Licking her lips, Faith moved away from Sylvanas, making sure her leggings were in place. Turning, she saw that Lor'themar looked very interested in the stone floor, his cheeks tinged slightly red.

"Faith tends to be a little needy when she's grieving," said Sylvanas, straightening up as though nothing at all had happened.

"Yes…" said Lor'themar quietly. "I have my own memories of Faith grieving."

"Now, don't mention that," Sylvanas told him. "Not unless you want Faith to spend the duration of this meeting in a corner, rocking back and forth."

"I'm not that useless," said Faith suddenly. "I mean, I can talk about her death without falling apart."

"Since when?" asked Sylvanas, Baine, and Lor'themar at the same time.

Faith stared at them all. "I can!"

"That's a question for another time," said Sylvanas. "Did you find Thrall?"

Lor'themar nodded, "Halduron located him in Nagrand. They're both on their way… here they are."

Thrall walked into the room, followed by Halduron and Rotvine, who closed the door behind them.

"Were you followed?" Sylvanas asked him.

Rotvine shook his head, "Nobody saw us."

"Let's take a seat," said Sylvanas, looking at Faith, who immediately lit the other torches in the room with a wave of her hand and conjured pillows for the hard wooden chairs around the table. She also conjured mugs of ale for the living members of the meeting.

"Thank you, Faith," said Thrall. He took a sip of ale and looked at her squarely. "What happened?"

Slowly, trying not to forget anything, Faith explained what Garia had told her, and what they had found in the cave.

"You really think that Garrosh had him killed?" asked Lor'themar. "I knew that he wasn't happy about some of his policies. He argued about integrating the goblins and the pandaren more within Orgrimmar, amongst other things."

"I don't think that Vol'jin was killed because of housing issues," said Faith. "He was furious about Theramore."

"A lot of people went against Garrosh when it came to Theramore," said Baine.

"Yeah, look where that got Faith," said Rotvine.

Sylvanas shifted uncomfortably in her chair, wanting to touch her lover again. "I won't pretend to know what goes on in Garrosh's mind. I do know, firsthand, that anybody who goes against his wishes is severely punished. Lor'themar and I didn't go to Theramore, and he killed all of our soldiers there, not to mention what he did to Faith. I also overheard something about a popular blacksmith in Orgrimmar who suddenly disappeared after voicing an unfavorable opinion of Garrosh."

"Who?" asked Faith.

"Orok. He was the one who used to take care of our horses every time we went to Durotar."

"How did you hear of this?" asked Thrall, looking stricken.

Faith snorted, "Trust me, you don't want to know that."

"Suffice it to say that I have friends everywhere, Thrall. Garrosh hates us, and ever since I had to watch Faith die, I hardly trust anybody." She glanced at Faith, seeing her hand twitch in her direction. "Garrosh has his inner circle, and they rule Orgrimmar with an iron fist when he's not around. Vol'jin had left Orgrimmar with the excuse that he wanted to be with his people, but it's obvious that he just wanted to get away from him."

"And he paid the ultimate price for it," said Baine. "What should we do?"

"Work with the Alliance," said Faith immediately. "I'm sorry, Sylvanas, but if we're going to… depose Garrosh, we're going to need them to do it. They've suffered more than we have at their hands."

"I don't know about that," said Sylvanas. "He did kill two leaders of the Horde already. And you."

"Yes, we know Garrosh killed me, let's move on from that, shall we?"

Sylvanas gave her the kind of look that told Faith she was seeing right through her, but she ignored it.

"In any case, the Alliance needs to be told that we're not just going to stand there and let him take over Azeroth without doing something about it."

"And how, pray tell, do you propose we take care of this problem?" wondered Rotvine. "We can't just kill him. He'd kill us before we even got a chance to try."

"There's another problem," said Lor'themar. "Most of us have forces stretched very thin in Pandaria. I'm getting ready to go there myself to deal with Lei Shen. I'm not saying that we shouldn't take care of Garrosh immediately, but if Lei Shen is set loose on the world, we'll have bigger problems than Garrosh."

"Not to mention the Sha of Fear," said Baine. "I have braves working on that along with some of Gallywix's lads."

Faith turned her head towards Baine, "You have goblins working on the sha of fear? I have nothing against goblins, but there's a reason we didn't invite Gallywix to this little gathering."

"They're still members of the Horde, Faith," he said calmly.

"I'm not saying otherwise, but Gallywix is actually a supporter of Garrosh, so long as it gives him additional riches. You're telling me that the goblins that are with your braves aren't trying to plunder the land?"

"Be that as it may," said Thrall, "they need to be included as well, and this is as good a way as any. How can we alert the Alliance?"

"Faith is friends with Anduin," said Rotvine quickly.

Faith's eyes widened, "I'm not  _friends_  with him. Let's just say I know him a little. And finding him won't be easy, especially not if he's in the Shrine of Seven Stars: it's an Alliance fortress."

"Wouldn't he be with his father in the Wilds, though?"

"Maybe," said Faith. "But in any case, I have no way of contacting him."

"I could talk to Hamuul Runetotem about it," said Baine. "He'd then be able to contact the Cenarion Circle, who would mention it to the rest of the Alliance."

Sylvanas gave a nod, "That seems to be the best way to go." She turned her head toward the door, frowning, "Are you sure that none of you were followed?"

"Positive," said Lor'themar. "Why?"

"There's someone outside."

Faith got to her feet, black flames already cupped in the palm of her hand. Wordlessly, Sylvanas got up as well, moving a little in front of Faith to shield her if necessary, but not enough to obstruct her aim.

There was a peculiar knock on the door: almost like the beat of a drum.

"Oh!" exclaimed Rotvine. "It's Garia. I asked her to come get us if there was anything happening."

"Get us?" repeated Sylvanas. "What could have happened for her to interrupt this meeting?"

Rotvine opened the door with a spell, and Garia practically fell into the room, carrying a roll of parchment.

"Faith, I came as quick as I could. You need to go to the Shado-Pan Monastery right away."

Rolling her eyes, Sylvanas sat back down, "In case you haven't noticed, Garia, we're experiencing a bit of a crisis right now. Faith can't worry about the pandaren now."

"But Taran Zhu has asked to see you. He says it's urgent, and to do with Vol'jin."

"How would the pandaren know about him?" asked Thrall blankly.

"He was in Pandaria for a few weeks," said Lor'themar. "They would recognize him. I mean, he's noticeable."

Faith shook her head, "It doesn't explain how Taran Zhu would know about him." She turned to Sylvanas, "Will you let me go find out?"

"You don't need my permission."

"You're my queen, of course I need your permission."

Sylvanas nodded, "Go. Come back as soon as you have information on what happened."

"Will you all be here?" she wondered. "Wouldn't it be best for you to go to Silvermoon? It'll be warmer."

Lor'themar nodded, "Yes. No offense, Sylvanas, but this is not the kind of room I'd like to linger in for too long. It looks like the inside of a tomb."

"That's what it was supposed to be, originally."

Even Thrall looked shocked at the revelation. Baine looked around him, as though expecting a ghost to come floating through at any moment.

"I thought you had it built?" Faith asked Sylvanas, surprised.

"I did. Out of an old crypt that was completely empty. You can see for yourself that it's never been used before."

Faith smiled a little and murmured a few spells, conjuring a Forsaken banner that hung itself along one of the walls. With another spell, she turned the torches into more elaborate lanterns. She glanced at Rotvine, who chuckled once and came to stand by her, helping her duplicate the lanterns, and turning them into some sort of chandelier, which they magically fixed to the ceiling.

"Carpet?" she asked him.

He nodded, and together, they moved their arms in a sweeping motion, murmuring another spell that suddenly covered the entire stone floor in a dark blue Undercity carpet.

"Show-offs," said Sylvanas, shaking her head.

"That looks more inviting," said Baine. "I did not know you could do that, Faith."

"I don't generally use my magic for things like this. But it's good practice."

Sylvanas put a hand on her shoulder, "Shouldn't you be going?"

Kissing Sylvanas' hand, Faith nodded, "Yes. Do you want a portal to Silvermoon?"

"I'll do that," said Rotvine. "You just worry about the pandaren."

"I'll see you all later," said Faith. She looked at Sylvanas, who smiled.

_I love you too._

Rotvine helped her create a portal to the Monastery, which she and Garia stepped through immediately.

It took them a minute to get accustomed to the light caused by the reflection of sunshine on snow, but once they had blinked a few times, they saw that someone had been waiting for them. It was Chao, the soldier Faith had helped at the Temple of Niuzao.

"Welcome back to Pandaria, Major," he said.

"Chao!" exclaimed Faith. "I'm glad to see you completely on your feet. What are you doing here?"

"Taran Zhu asked that I come back to rest a bit. I will be going home tomorrow for a few weeks before resuming my duties."

"That's good. Going home can certainly help one's recovery."

"Yes it can. You should come inside. Master Zhu has something he would like to talk to you about."

"Lead the way."

They walked through the snowy courtyard until they reached the entrance to the monastery. Monks greeted them, remembering Faith and Garia from before.

"I see that Taran Zhu's disciples have made all of the repairs to the walls," said Faith as they stepped inside the entrance hall. The last time she had been there, cracks had been everywhere, making it look like the entire structure had been falling apart.

"Oh, yes," said Chao. "We would not dream of keeping the Monastery in ruin."

"You've done a very good job," commented Garia. "It's lovely."

"Thank you. Ah, just this way."

He led them into a chamber that Faith had never been in before, and which was just next to one of the staircases that led to the upper floors.

Faith did not have time to register the marble etchings along the walls or the magnificent statues dedicated to the August Celestials.

She only saw one thing, one figure laying on a soft bed in the corner of the room. A creature with mottled blue skin and vivid red hair.

Vol'jin.


	60. Chapter 60

Vol'jin.

There he was, sitting up and taking a sip out of a goblet as though nothing at all were wrong.

Before she leapt across the room to hug him, Faith had the time to note that he was much paler than usual, and that he'd lost a good amount of weight.

"I can't say I ever had a Forsaken hug me before…" he said, catching her.

"You… you were dead…" she whispered, dusty tears spilling from her eyes. "How is this possible?"

Vol'jin winced as he pulled away from her, awkwardly patting her back. "I would have been, if my friend Ban Bearheart had not found me and brought me here."

Faith wiped at her cheeks, "How? How did you survive? There was so much blood in that cave…"

"You went to the cave?" asked Vol'jin, his tone turning sharp.

"Garia came to see me while I was at Niuzao's temple to tell me that you'd been killed. We had no proof, your body wasn't anywhere, and we had no idea what had happened. So we went looking for evidence. The Kor'kron told us that saurok had attacked you, but we saw no saurok tracks in there, which was what led us to believe that Garrosh had ordered your assassination."

Vol'jin put a hand on her shoulder, "You must listen, Faith. Da world be in more danger now than it was when the Scourge was active."

"What do you mean? I know that Garrosh is dangerous, and we're working on it. Sylvanas even agreed to work with the Alliance."

"Yes," he said darkly. "We be needing them too. Garrosh is playing at being some sort of god."

Faith blinked, "What?"

"Did you look at the walls of the cave, Faith?"

"The walls? No, I didn't see much evidence of what happened on the walls, only on the floor."

"You should have looked at the walls, dey would have told you a lot." He coughed once, and put a hand to his side, which was heavily bandaged. "The walls told of how the mogu made the saurok."

Faith helped Vol'jin lie down again, covering him with a warm blanket, "Made the saurok? What do you mean, they weren't just born that way?"

He shook his head, "No. Da saurok were created by the mogu, using reptile wildlife like lizards and snakes. Dey tortured them, tortured them and cast black spells on them until they became these lizard-men with a bloodlust that would rival an undead's."

"Wait, wait…"

"It is called flesh-shaping," said the voice of Taran Zhu. Faith turned around and saw him walking into the room. "What it basically does is stretch the skin and bones of an animal to create something new. It is a process said to be unbearably painful."

"The creatures are alive while this happens?" asked Faith, aghast.

Vol'jin nodded grimly.

"If you would like to know more about this –."

Faith held up her hand, interrupting Taran Zhu, "No. No, I really don't need to know anything more, thank you." She rubbed her face gently, "And here I thought that the Fleshwerks I heard about in Icecrown was bad."

Vol'jin snorted, "Dis makes da Scourge look friendly."

"I don't know about 'friendly'… why is this relevant?"

"Because Garrosh wants to harness that power to create his own monsters."

"Of course he does," said Faith. "Because we haven't spent half our lives fighting monsters at every turn… are you sure about this?"

Vol'jin nodded, "I heard da Kor'kron talking when dey thought I be dead. Dey said that Garrosh had imported beasts from Northrend and had brought other beasts back from Pandaria, and dat he had big plans."

"Beasts from Northrend… you mean like mammoths and the wooly rhinos?" Faith didn't want to think of what Garrosh would do with the creatures, if what Vol'jin was saying was true. "I have no reason to doubt you, but… you understand how insane that sounds."

Another nod. "I shudder to think of what would happen if dis be real."

"I need to get back to Undercity. Sylvanas is there with the other leaders, except for Gallywix."

"Dat be a war council."

Faith shrugged, "Garrosh had you assassinated, or so we thought. We can't have him as warchief of the Horde anymore."

Vol'jin chuckled, "I suppose you did not have to try hard to convince Sylvanas."

"Garrosh had me killed. I didn't have to try hard to convince Baine or Lor'themar either. Look, I don't know where we go from here, except that we need to depose Garrosh. Whether that means getting him to resign or taking him out by force is beyond me."

"He will not resign."

"I know," said Faith. "I'll go back to Sylvanas now, and tell her what's going on. We'll work from there. As for you, you need to rest. I'll come back periodically and keep you updated, although I suppose that Thrall will want to come and see you too."

She kissed his forehead, something she'd never done before, and he looked at her, surprised but saying nothing. He watched as she left, asking Taran Zhu to look after him.

"She cares a lot, for an undead," said the pandaren.

"Yes. She cares," he said slowly. "She be a good person."

Faith landed back in Undercity and quickly made her way to the hidden chamber where she knew Sylvanas to be. She found her at the door, waiting for her.

"Well?"

"He's alive. Vol'jin's alive."

"What?!" Sylvanas quickly pulled her into the room, where a new leader had arrived: Ji Firepaw, who was currently being briefed on everything that had happened.

Thrall, who had been speaking, looked at her, his mouth agape. "Alive?"

Faith nodded, "He's at the Shado-Pan Monastery."

Everyone began talking at once, but Faith clapped her hands once, the sound echoing like thunder thanks to a spell.

"Listen! We have a problem."

Sylvanas snorted, "Another one?"

Faith recounted what Vol'jin had told her about how the mogu had created the saurok. By the time she finished speaking, Lor'themar looked sick, and even Sylvanas appeared troubled.

"It's the truth," said Ji. "The mogu had flesh-shapers that created not only the saurok, but the grummies that are found throughout Pandaria. They made them out of troggs."

"Troggs?" asked Baine. "I didn't know there were troggs in Pandaria."

"There are none. But that is where the grummies come from. Do you really think that Garrosh is capable of using this ancient dark magic to create new monsters?"

"Yes," said Faith, Sylvanas, Thrall, and Lor'themar at the same time.

"And to think that he accused me of behaving like Arthas," whispered Sylvanas.

Faith looked at her, but chose not to respond to that statement. "What do we do?" she asked the room at large.

"The Alliance must be warned, Baine can send word to Hamuul, who will speak to his counterparts at the Cenarion Circle, like you'd suggested earlier, Faith. And you… you're still in contact with the Argent Crusade?"

A nod, "I can go to Hearthglen right away and let them know to warn the Alliance leaders."

"Do that. We'll have to go to Orgrimmar and see how things are progressing there"

"Progressing?" asked Lor'themar.

"Word will have gotten out by now about Vol'jin. The trolls will be looking for a new leader."

"Should we tell them that he's still alive?" asked Faith.

Leaning against the wall, Sylvanas shook her head. "That's risky. It could start an open rebellion."

"What else are we supposed to do? I'm sure they're going to work out the fact that Vol'jin was set up."

Lor'themar stood up, "I wish I could be of more help. But if I don't get to Pandaria now, things will get worse. Garrosh himself asked me to look into the situation on that island."

"I can make you a portal to Niuzao's Temple. It'll cut your journey by several days. And you can talk to Vereesa while you're there."

"Carrick," said Sylvanas, "help her with that so that she doesn't burn out again."

Rotvine nodded, "You'll want to go to Silvermoon first, I expect."

"Yes," said Lor'themar. "I'll go back now. In my absence, Halduron will be in charge. I can have him get the word out to as many people as he can."

"Do you have any Garrosh sympathizers in Silvermoon?" asked Sylvanas.

"Not since the Razor Hill incident. He killed some of my best troops there, and he killed Faith. That was enough to put everyone on their guard."

"Well, be careful. Don't do anything crazy. And you, Faith. Come back to me soon."

Faith smiled, taking Sylvanas' hand and squeezing her fingers gently, "You won't have time to miss me."

Sylvanas took a step towards her, leaning down and whispering into her ear, "I miss you when you're in the same room as me. I miss you every time you're not touching me. As soon as you let go of my hand, I'll start missing you."

Faith looked at her, and before she had even tried to remind herself that she and Sylvanas were not alone in the room, she kissed her. She wrapped her arms around the queen's neck, opening her mouth and sliding her tongue alongside Sylvanas'.

Lor'themar cleared his throat, "Should we leave? Would you like some privacy?"

Sylvanas, far from caring about what anybody thought, kissed Faith back with a hunger that caused nearly everyone in the room to blush.

"Oh, they could go on like this a while," said Rotvine, looking away and poking Sylvanas' back. "My Lady. Faith?"

"Maybe you should douse them with water," suggested Thrall, trying very hard not to laugh.

Sylvanas moved her head away from Faith only enough to glare at him, "Don't you even think about it."

"Well, at least you two came up for air…" said Lor'themar.

"One great thing about being undead is the fact that we don't need to worry about lung capacity," whispered Faith, feeling a little dazed. Licking her lips, she pressed her face to Sylvanas' shoulder, closing her eyes. She felt someone tugging at her arm, but Sylvanas held on to her tightly.

"Stop trying to pry us apart," she snarled. "I know we're in a hurry." She rubbed Faith's back a little before stepping back. "I love you," she told her quietly.

"I love you." Faith's voice was quiet, private, but everyone heard her. Lor'themar smiled, a little sadly.

"Those two, I swear they have the kind of love most of us dream about."

"I don't." said Thrall.

"That's because you have a mate and child," said Baine. He looked at Faith and Sylvanas, "Have you two ever thought about becoming parents?"

Faith's eyes widened so much that it was almost comical, "Who, us?"

"Parents?" asked Sylvanas, as though she'd never heard that term before. "Parents of what?"

Baine rolled his eyes. "You could have a child."

Sylvanas cleared her throat, "Being as we're both female, and undead, I don't see how that would ever be a possibility."

"You could adopt."

"You want us to adopt a living child to come and live with us in the sewers and catacombs of Undercity?" asked Faith. "That's healthy.  Besides, we already agreed against adoption."

"We have three nephews, that's enough."

"Three?" asked Thrall. "I know of Vereesa's sons only. She can't have… I mean, she wasn't…"

"Alleria and Turalyon had a son as well, if you'll remember," said Sylvanas shortly. "But he's in Outland. Or at least he was. I haven't seen him since I died." She glanced at Faith, and saw her looking stunned, "What the heck are you looking at me like that for?"

Faith blinked, "You… you said  _we_  have nephews. But really, they're yours only."

"Uh-huh, and the fact that the twins call you 'Aunt Faith' has escaped your notice?"

"No," said slowly.

"Just go with it. They love you. And speaking of nephews… isn't Hamu getting ready to be a father?"

Still lost in thought, Faith nodded, "It should be any day now."

Sylvanas ran a thumb over Faith's jawline, "Hey. Are you okay?"

"We should get to Silvermoon. I'll be back in a little bit."

"See you soon."

Abruptly, Faith stepped away from her and left, Rotvine and Lor'themar hurrying behind her. Sylvanas frowned, shaking her head, "I would appreciate people not putting ideas in her head like that."

"Ideas?"

"She doesn't need to have ideas of us having a family in this life. Not when we both know that if we hadn't died, we would have gotten married."

"You still could," said Thrall gently.

"I don't need a signed bit of parchment to tell me that I love Faith."

"You're telling me that it wouldn't make you happy to marry her? Because there's no law against it."

Sylvanas didn't answer, instead walking out of the room and going back into the main part of Undercity. Thrall and Baine took portals to get home, and she was left to think on her own.

She was so deep in thought that when Faith returned, she didn't react immediately. It took her a minute to realize that she'd spoken her name. "What is it?" she asked.

Faith came to her and kissed her cheek softly, "Lor'themar left with Lady Liadrin and a couple of hundred soldiers. I wish I could split myself in half and go with them while the other me stays with you."

Sylvanas smiled, "If there were two of you, I'd want you both here with me."

"Greedy," Faith told her.

"Isn't there a spell that could create an image of you? I can think of a few things we could do with that."

"Sylvanas Windrunner!" exclaimed Faith, sounding scandalized. "Where do you come up with ideas like that?"

Sylvanas chuckled, "I have a dark mind."

Faith glanced around, and saw that the guards normally in the throne room had left. She straddled Sylvanas' hips, "You're preoccupied by something."

"And you're not?"

"I think that if I were any more preoccupied, I'd be insane." She kissed Sylvanas' neck gently nipping at the skin there, "Talk to me."

"You keep doing that, and all you'll get from me is dirty talk, love."

"I wouldn't mind that."

"Fiend." She locked her arms around Faith's waist, "What do you want to know?"

"What are you worried about?"

"At present? The fate of the Horde worries me. I don't know whether we can recover from Garrosh's betrayal, and you know that the Alliance is going to capitalize on this. They'd be stupid not to."

Faith nodded before pulling a piece of loose skin from Sylvanas' ear, "We can recover. Not all the orcs are for Garrosh. The ones loyal to Thrall will stand with us."

"I guess that's better than nothing. But then what do we do? He's going to go back to Orgrimmar, and how are we supposed to depose him from there? Should we storm the capital of the Horde?"

"You're the tactical leader," Faith told her. "What would you do?"

"If it were just me, I'd rally up all our supporters and get them to undermine Garrosh from within. We would need a lot of people in place before an attack of this scale." She shook her head, "It could be done, but there would be a lot of casualties."

"Since when are you afraid of casualties?"

"Since you like to get into the thick of things. Unless I lock you up in a dungeon somewhere, you're going to be there, and you could get killed again."

"Sylvanas, stop thinking about me for a little while."

"Can't. You're in my heart now, I do everything with you in mind."

"Just now?" asked Faith.

"Okay so you've been in my heart for decades. I don't want you hurt, not again."

"What makes you think I'm going to get hurt?"

"I'm scared. Is that what you want me to tell you?" Sylvanas tipped Faith off her lap and stood up, "You died and I couldn't do anything about it. Now, Garrosh has gone rogue and he's already tried to kill you.  Again."

Faith got to her feet, rubbing her hip, "First of all… ow? That hurt." She grabbed Sylvanas' hand, "Second, Garrosh hates me. That's not going to change, and you know it. He hated me before he went rogue, and he'll keep hating me until he's dead."

"All the more reason for you to remain in Undercity and not get involved in anything else."

"Look, I'm not about to stand back and let everyone else risk their lives without doing anything! These are my people and my friends he's hurting."

"What have they ever done for you?"

Faith looked at Sylvanas squarely in the eye, "Really? You want me to enumerate all the ways that people have helped me over the years? Shall I start with the way Lor'themar was there for me when you died?"

Sylvanas' eyes flashed, and Faith readied herself for something bad, but the queen of Undercity forced herself to relax, "Why is it so bad for me to want to keep you safe?"

"It's not. Sweetheart, it's not. But you shouldn't keep focusing on me."

"You're all I have left."

"That's not true, my darling, you know that. Come here." Faith tugged at Sylvanas' hand, and Sylvanas came to her, "Are you afraid of being alone?"

"I'm afraid of not being with you, and don't tell me that you're not terrified of that too."

"Sylvanas, of course I am. Where have you been the last twenty years?" Faith kissed her. "In a perfect world, we'd never be apart. Never. We would love each other and that would be enough to sustain everything."

"But the world can't live on our love," said Sylvanas quietly.

"Well, the world outside Undercity can't live on our love."

Sylvanas put a hand on Faith's face, "Aren't you glad you asked me what was worrying me?"

"I am. Especially if it means that we can have real conversations about how you feel. Let's just try not to get so loud about it next time."

"Work in progress," said Sylvanas. "I'm sorry I got agitated."

"Well, you're a banshee. It's part of your sparkling personality."

Sylvanas kissed her briefly, "When will you be going to Hearthglen?"

"Right away, unless you can think of a reason to make me stay here a little longer."

"Oh, I can think of half a dozen reasons why I should keep you here."

"Only half a dozen?" wondered Faith.

Sylvanas leaned over and whispered something so obscene into her ear that she was momentarily stunned speechless.

It was like this that Rotvine found them a minute later, with Sylvanas laughing and Faith staring at her, her eyes wide.

"I'm sorry to bother you," he said to them.

Sylvanas looked at him, "You're not bothering us. What is it, Carrick?"

"A messenger from Thunder Bluff just arrived. Faith, you need to go see your family right away."

Immediately worried, Faith looked at him, "What happened?"

"I believe that your brother's wife is giving birth."


	61. Chapter 61

"What?" cried Faith. "Giving birth? Are you sure? Now?"

"That's what the messenger said."

Faith looked at Sylvanas, her eyes wide.

"Go!" she said. "Don't just stand here staring at me!"

"You sure?"

"Your brother is about to be a father,  _go_." Sylvanas kissed her, then gently pushed at her. "Congratulate them for me."

"I will."

Rotvine, looking amused at Faith's mild panic, created a portal for her. She jumped through it, landing in Thunder Bluff, close to her parents' home. Even from there, she could hear Ishaka's cries. She sprinted towards her brother's residence, nearly colliding with Atalo, who was pacing outside.

"Whoa, Faith, slow down."

"How is she?"

A particularly loud cry rent the air. Atalo winced, "Well, as you can hear, she's not done yet. But it'll be over soon. She started laboring this morning."

"Why didn't you get me sooner?"

"Because you're a Forsaken and Ishaka needs a more living environment. Besides, we knew you were with Baine. Is everything okay?"

"No. But we can talk about that later."

There was another drawn-out cry, a shout from Hamu, and an exclamation from Taisha. Seconds later, Faith heard the bleat of a newborn calf, and Atalo hugged her, bursting into tears. Faith hugged him back, her eyes suspiciously wet.

"You're a grandfather!" she cried.

Taisha suddenly poked her head out the door. "Faith!" she said. "You're here!" She hugged her and Atalo, "It's a girl!"

"A girl!" choked Atalo, unable to keep his composure. In one movement, he picked up his mate and swung her around, both of them laughing.

Faith used that moment to duck into her brother's dwelling. It wasn't one of the larger houses in Thunder Bluff, but it was comfortable. Tapestries were on the floor, woven in blue and green, the larger of which covered the area beneath the dining table. Further away was an array of cushions that served as a sitting area for guests.

A fire pit was in the corner, surrounded by dozens of large rocks. There were burning coals there, giving off a pleasant warmth. A few crude shelves lined the walls, and held weapons, a few books, and wooden statues representing An'she, a tree, and an elf, the latter of which made Faith smile.

Ishaka lay on the low bed at the very end of the wigwam. She looked exhausted, and had her eyes on Hamu, who was wrapping a small white calf in a pale violet blanket using his good arm and his prosthetic wooden limb. The calf bleated once, and Hamu lowered his head, softly breathing on the baby. Ishaka held out her arms, and Hamu placed the newborn in her arms before glancing around and spotting Faith.

He grinned at her and in a bound, had crossed the room and hugged her tightly. "It's a girl!" he cried. "We made a girl!"

Faith laughed, "I know, Taisha told us! Congratulations, Dad."

"I'm a father..."

"You're a father," repeated Faith.

"Come see her. Look at how tiny she is!"

The little calf was minuscule compared to her parents. Almost pure white, Faith noticed very light brown spots on her fur that would probably darken in time.

"We are calling her Sylvera," said Ishaka.

Faith blinked, "Pardon me?"

"That's your middle name, isn't it?"

A nod, "It is." Faith was stunned, "You're naming your daughter after me?"

"Of course we are. It's a beautiful name, and we think it fits this little one. Besides, you're our only sister."

Faith licked her lips to keep herself from bursting into tears. To have a tauren child named after her was a great honor, one that completely overwhelmed her. Impulsively, she hugged Hamu again, not knowing what to say.

"Is Sylvanas coming?" he asked.

"Not… not today. Something happened that we have to work on. But she'll probably come to visit soon, if she can."

"What happened, Faith?" asked Atalo, coming into the room with Taisha.

"It's not important now. You have something else to think about. I need to get back to Sylvanas, but I'll return tomorrow, if I can."

"You don't want to stay longer?" asked Ishaka.

Faith smiled, "I would love to, believe me. But there's something that I need to do."

"Faith, you're worrying me," said Taisha.

"I know. But I'm okay. I'm sure Baine will talk to you about it sometime soon."

Faith bid her family goodbye and, already missing them, went to the Pools of Vision, asking the mages there to help her with a portal. They did so, glad to have something to do, as the tauren still hadn't gotten used to taking portals on a regular basis unless it was an emergency.

Hearthglen was just as Faith remembered it. Green and clean, it held absolutely none of the corruption that still plagued parts of the region. The buildings, which were scrubbed on a regular basis, looked very bright in the light of the sun, causing Faith to squint as she walked through the cobbled streets.

The members of the Argent Crusade greeted her, some warmly, while others were a little more guarded.

"Well, if it isn' my favorite Forsaken!" called a dwarven voice.

Faith smiled as Haldren walked over to her. "Hello, Haldren. I didn't realize you'd returned to Hearthglen."

"I go back ter Ironforge tomorrow. What are yeh doing here, lassie?"

"I need to talk to Tirion, is he around? Something's happened."

"Aye, a lot of things have happened ter the Horde, from what I've heard."

"You know?" she asked, surprised.

"Of course I know. It's not like we didn' hear about the Horde getting' kicked out of Dalaran."

Faith blinked, "I'm sorry?"

"Yeh don' know!" he exclaimed. "Apparently Jaina banned the Sunreavers and the rest of the Horde from Dalaran after a big skirmish. It's official now."

"Damn. I guess it's a good thing I didn't teleport there then. When did this happen? I know she tried before, but that everyone shot her down."

"A few days ago. I can't believe yeh haven' heard! I thought you would have, bein' a mage and all!"

"I've had a few things on my mind, Haldren," she said wearily.

"Tirion is at the tavern if yeh wanna talk to him."

"Thanks, Haldren. I'll see you before I leave if I can."

He nodded and patted her arm as she left to find Tirion.

The tavern was filled with soldiers, most of whom looked carefree. Faith noticed that a large number of them belonged to the Alliance, except for the barman, who was a scarred Sin'dorei. She found Tirion at the bar, exchanging pleasantries with someone she hadn't seen in quite a while.

"Velien?" she asked. "Is that you?"

" _Anar'alah Belore_ , Faith! You're the last person I was expecting to see here!" He looked at her and shook his head, "By the Light, I'd heard that you'd been raised, but I didn't think… look at you."

"I suppose it's a bit of a shock when you see me the first time."

"More than a bit." He looked to Tirion, "You know, I met her on the ships that were escaping from Quel'Thalas. I didn't think she was going to last, her grief was too strong."

"And yet she ended up killing Arthas," said Tirion.

"I had a lot of help," she said, shaking Tirion's hand. "Do you have time to talk?"

He nodded, "Sure. We can go to my office." He drained the goblet of ale he had been holding and left a few coppers on the bar. "Follow me."

"It was good to see you again, Velien," said Faith. "You'll have to tell me how you came to join the Argent Crusade sometime."

"I'll make sure to do that," he told her. "Have a good day, Faith."

She and Tirion went to the keep that stood on the small mound, overlooking the city. Once they were in his office, he closed the door and looked at her, "What's going on?"

As best she could, she filled him in one the situation the Horde was facing.

"It's been a rough few days, I can tell you that," she finished, sitting down. "I hadn't even heard about Dalaran, but maybe Sylvanas was going to tell me about that later on."

"She probably was. So what are you all planning to do about Garrosh?"

Faith shook her head, "I don't know. Right now, we have to make sure that Vol'jin stays safe. If Garrosh finds out he's still alive, he'll send someone to finish the job."

"All right. I'll warn the rest of the Alliance to be really careful about Garrosh."

"Keep things quiet here. I don't know where everyone's loyalties lie, and we don't want him to get a word of what's going on. He needs to think that we're all oblivious to what's going on."

"We're the Argent Crusade, Faith, we know how to be careful. Are you going back to Undercity?"

A nod, "Yeah. Sylvanas will want to know how things went in Thunder Bluff. My brother just became a father."

"Hey! Congratulations!" said Tirion, grinning.

Faith smiled, "Hard to believe that with everything happening, there can still be good things in the world."

"Of course there can. Why do you think that we keep fighting for them so much?"

"Because we don't have a choice." She got to her feet, "Thanks for listening, Tirion. I'll keep you updated on the situation as best I can."

"Good luck with everything."

Luck. Faith thought that they were going to need it.

As she returned to Undercity, she saw that things looked normal. Business went on as usual in each of the quarters, and the market was in full swing in the central square. Faith didn't linger instead going straight to Sylvanas, who was in their chambers.

"When were you going to tell me about Dalaran?"

Sylvanas turned around, "Dalaran. I wasn't. You're not concerned."

"What do you mean  _I'm not concerned_?"

"I mean that Vereesa managed to convince Jaina to allow you to come to Dalaran every once in a while to visit her and the twins. Jaina only agreed because she knows what you did in Theramore, but it was a hard sell."

"You should have told me."

"I'm sorry. We've had other things to worry about, you know."

"I know." She went to Sylvanas and placed a hand on her back, "It's a girl."

Sylvanas smiled, "What's her name?"

"Sylvera."

An odd look crossed the queen's features, "Really?" she asked in a low voice, taking Faith in her arms. "They named her after you?"

Faith gave a nod, looking into Sylvanas' eyes, "I've never had anybody named after me before."

"It's an honor." Sylvanas kissed her, "I'll have to go see them when I get the chance."

"They asked for you."

"Did they, really?"

"Yeah. I guess they figure you're a part of me."

"Am I?"

"You are my other half. The heart to my soul. My lover. My everything. You know that."

She smiled again, leaning in for another kiss, "I love you."

A couple of hours later, they emerged from their chambers and had a meeting with Nathanos and Rotvine about what the situation was.

"We got a message from Thrall," said Nathanos. "Apparently Malkorok is in charge while Garrosh is away, and he's been cracking down on security."

"Cracking down?"

"News of Vol'jin's death has spread, and it seems that the orcs are afraid of a rebellion."

"Why would they be?" asked Sylvanas. "If they stick to the version of events they gave us, they should have no problem with anybody."

"That's what alerted the trolls to something being wrong. They were having some kind of memorial to honor Vol'jin, and the Kor'kron stepped in to put an end to it."

"That's a bad idea," said Faith. "I don't know how many people were aware of his differences with Garrosh, but stopping the trolls from honoring their fallen chief is a sure way of getting them riled up."

"We need to be careful," said Sylvanas. "We have Kor'kron here too, and the last thing we need is for them to institute a state of martial law in Undercity. For now, we keep going as usual, until we hear something more concrete about what's going on."

For the next ten days, that was exactly what they did. Faith went back and forth to Pandaria, making sure to talk loudly about the "progress" she was making with the Shado-Pan, knowing that any Garrosh supporters in the city would report back to him.

Sure enough, one day, she received a letter from Malkorok, regarding this very fact.

_To Major Faith Everstone in Undercity,_

_Garrosh is very pleased to know that you have been working tirelessly to secure a lasting partnership with the Shado-Pan. We have heard that they have gone to help Lor'themar on the Isle of Thunder, so whatever you have been doing with them has obviously been working._

_We have also heard of the Alliance regimen that you slaughtered with the Forsaken troops in the Jade Forest recently, and thank you for your service to the Horde._

_As such, we would like to invite you to Orgrimmar for a promotion ceremony, where you will become a Commander of the Horde._

Faith stared at the parchment blankly. "They're promoting me?" she asked. "You think it's a trap?"

Sylvanas read the letter over quickly, "Not unless they've found out that you let all those soldiers go. I can't believe you did that, by the way."

"Was I supposed to kill forty people in one go? They didn't deserve that, although I suspect this is exactly the kind of thing that Garrosh and Malkorok like."

"I wouldn't have spared them, but you've always been a better person than me. And about your promotion I've been asking Garrosh for months to let me promote you, but he wouldn't listen to me."

"Probably because you're a little biased when it comes to me."

"I may be biased, but I also know your worth. Give me a little credit, honey."

"I suppose I can't refuse the promotion."

"I would advise against that."

Faith nodded. "Will you come with me to Orgrimmar?"

"Like I would miss a chance to see you promoted to Commander. You'll need a new uniform."

"New uniform? I don't need a new uniform."

But Sylvanas paid no attention to her, mysteriously leaving the room and returning hours later with a uniform that was blacker than coal dust. Made of velvet, it was incredibly soft to the touch, and came with leggings and a long tunic on which was etched the Forsaken crest in silver.

"Sylvanas, that's –."

Sylvanas put a hand over Faith's mouth, "I have another two uniforms getting ready for you. One that's the exact same as this one, but in leather, and another one that's also leather, but robes instead of leggings and a tunic. By the time we return from Orgrimmar, the tailors will have another three of them ready."

Faith took Sylvanas' hand away from her mouth, brushing a kiss across her knuckles, "Thank you, my love. It's beautiful, but it's too much. I don't need all of that."

"I would like you to wear them. Other than the fact that they'll look unbearably hot on you, it'll identify you to our troops."

"Unbearably hot," repeated Faith. "All right, if it'll make you happy, I'll gladly accept them."

"Good. It makes us even for all of the new clothes you always insist on buying for me."

"But I like buying new clothes for you."

Sylvanas smiled, "I see the appeal. When are we due in Orgrimmar?"

"Doesn't say. I'll send a response back telling him we're ready. Shall I offer Undercity as a place to hold the ceremony?"

"You can try, but they'll want to hold it in Orgrimmar."

Sylvanas was right. Three days later, Faith found herself in the Horde capital with her and half the Magi Corps behind them, dressed in their best uniforms. The shaman had kindly made sure that thick clouds covered the sun in order to make it easier for everyone to be outside.

Surprisingly, Garrosh was there. Lor'themar and Lady Liadrin hadn't been able to make the trip, but Halduron was with them as well, as were Baine, Gallywix, and Ji. Faith had balked at such an extravagance during an active campaign, but everyone had assured her that a break from war was welcome.

It was a good ceremony. Faith caught Sylvanas looking away for a split-second to wipe her eye – something she denied forever afterwards, no matter how often she was teased about it – and saw her family in the front row, staring proudly at her.

Garrosh himself pinned the Horde's commander insignia on the left side of her tunic. He said nothing to her, but the glint in his eye told her that he didn't trust her in the least.

"I'm sure that he promoted me so that he can say that one of his highest-ranking officers betrayed him in the end," she told Sylvanas later.

Sylvanas grabbed her arm roughly, "Please don't say that too loudly. The walls have ears in this place."

"Hey, I serve the Horde, just like you do. But you and the Forsaken come first. As long as the Horde's needs mesh with ours, then everything's fine."

"I'll have to make sure to keep our interests aligned with the Horde's then," said Sylvanas, releasing Faith.

Malkorok joined them, "Congratulations, Commander," he said to Faith. "You have certainly proven yourself to be a valuable member of the Horde."

Faith inclined her head briefly, "I hope that you all find me worthy of such a role."

"Some more than others, I think. It's a pity that Vol'jin was killed. I'm sure that he would have been proud of you."

Faith smiled, "I'm sure that his spirit is with us in some ways."

"Will you be returning to Pandaria?"

"The warchief gave me a job to do, so I must. The Shado-Pan still require proof of our loyalty before we can even attempt to ask them to join the Horde."

"I thought you were making progress with them?"

"I am," she said. "And it certainly helps that we already have a faction of pandaren in the Horde already."

"The Alliance has one as well."

A nod, "Yes. And they are also working with the Shado-Pan, and the Golden Lotus, and the Order of the Cloud Serpent. The pandaren are strong, and they know Pandaria better than any of us. Working with all of the factions is the best way to remind them of everything we have to offer them."

"I am confident that Faith is more than capable of getting the Shado-Pan to join our cause," said Sylvanas smoothly. "And the warchief must be as well, considering the fact that he agreed to her promotion."

"That is mostly because you and the others wouldn't stop writing to him about it."

"Others?" asked Faith, glancing at Sylvanas.

"Vol'jin, Baine, and Lor'themar have been saying for a while that you needed a battlefield commission."

"Vol'jin did?"

Malkorok nodded, "He liked you."

"I'll miss him," said Faith, trying successfully to sound choked up.

Sylvanas put a hand on her shoulder, "We all will. This promotion is a way to honor him."

"Then honor him I shall." She looked at Sylvanas, "We should return to Undercity. There are supplies I need to get before going back to Pandaria."

"I won't keep you," said Malkorok, his eyes glinting in a way Faith didn't like. "Safe travels."

"Thank you," said Sylvanas.

They left Orgrimmar shortly after, gathering up the Forsaken and leaving via portal with the Sin'dorei who would be returning to Silvermoon.

"Orgrimmar has changed," said Sylvanas as soon as they had landed in Undercity. "I saw elite forces on a lot of roofs, did you notice?"

Halduron, who was with them, nodded once, "I did. And there were almost no trolls around."

"I saw one," said Faith. "But he was hiding in the shadows. He wasn't really close, but I did notice he was injured."

"We'll really have to be careful." Sylvanas glanced around to make sure no Kor'kron were nearby, "I'll come with you to Pandaria briefly and talk to Vol'jin."

"Is there anything you want us to do from Silvermoon?" asked Halduron.

"Stay on your guard," answered Sylvanas. "If you have spies, use them, but make sure they know what they're doing."

They parted ways, Halduron walking towards the orb of translocation that would take him back to Quel'Thalas, while Faith and Sylvanas went to the Royal Quarter.

All of them had a bad feeling.


	62. Chapter 62

It was a beautiful day, cold, crisp, with snow falling gently from a densely clouded sky. It wasn't the kind of day Faith would have enjoyed when she'd still drawn breath, but the lack of sun suited her, allowing her to keep her hood down for once.

Below her, pandaren sparred against each other or, in some cases, against wooden dummies that had been magically enhanced so as to almost fight back. Their movements were graceful for such creatures, and Faith found herself admiring them more and more.

In a corner of the sparring ring, a lone blue figure with shocking red hair attacked a dummy. He wore nothing but a pair of fur-lined breeches, insisting that the cold was good for him. Despite his protests, however, Faith had put a spell on him so that his skin wouldn't freeze. Kun-Lai Summit wasn't Icecrown by any means, but the temperature was still low enough to keep snow there year-round.

"He is doing much better," said Ban Bearheart, walking over to where she stood.

"I have you to thank for that," she told the pandaren. "He would have surely died had you not found him and brought him here."

"He's also very strong. He has a will to live for his people."

"Indeed he does. Still, the Shado-Pan did a lot to help him, and I'm grateful to the order for everything they've done."

"It was our pleasure. Will he be staying here much longer, do you know?"

Faith glanced at the pandaren and smiled, "Maybe a couple more weeks, if that's not too big an inconvenience. We're still trying to figure out what to do on our end. We can't take him to any of the Horde's capital cities, there are too many orcs there who are loyal to Garrosh. Dalaran would be a logical choice, but with Jaina completely barring access to the Horde now, it wouldn't be a good idea."

"Oh, I am not saying that we want to get rid of him, As a matter of fact, we have become quite fond of him, if you can imagine that."

"I can," replied Faith. "Ideally, we would bring him back to his people on Darkspear Isle. Of course, it's very close to Orgrimmar, and I'm not sure how safe he would be there, but his people aren't safe either right now, not from what I've seen."

She and Ban made their way down to the sparring ring, walking towards Vol'jin, who turned to look at them. He clapped a hand on Faith's shoulder.

"How you doing, Commander?" he asked.

"Quite well, thank you." She didn't want to tell him what she had seen on her last visit to Orgrimmar, and what she had heard since she had returned from there.

Vilak had been there, and had told her and Sylvanas that things had steadily been getting worse. Trolls had been completely segregated in their section of Orgrimmar, under heavy guard. Hardly any food was being passed down to them, and they hadn't been allowed to elect a new leader. Anybody found outside of their area of Orgrimmar was summarily arrested.

"Anyone who is able has been fleeing to Sen'jin Village, but with Kor'kron patrolling the roads, not many of them have made it," he had said when Faith had looked at him, horrified.

"And things in da Horde?" Vol'jin asked Faith, bringing her back to the present.

"Tense."

He looked at her, frowning at the look on her face. "Faith."

"Let's focus on getting you completely better before we start worrying about everyone else, all right?" she said, smiling as brightly as she could.

"That worked better when you were alive, mon. Tell me."

"Can't. I'm sorry, Vol'jin, but I have my orders."

"Sylvanas not be here, Faith."

"No, but I know who  _is_  here," Faith told him, suddenly grim.

"Who?"

"Kor'kron."

A gunshot ran out, and the pandaren scattered, all of them looking up at the top of the stairs. A group of fifty orcs stood there, accompanied by several goblins. One of them was one Faith had seen with Garrosh before: Laxx Grimbolt, an underhanded creature who would do anything for a coin.

He started to laugh. "Well, well. Our newest commander. Garrosh was wondering why you kept returning here all the time, when it's clear that the Shado-Pan are mostly fighting at the Isle of Thunder. He had no  _idea_  that Vol'jin was still alive. Why didn't you come tell us?"

"Damn it, that little sneak has been following me," hissed Faith, stunned that she hadn't noticed him.

"Garrosh will be very pleased when I bring him news of your betrayal. He's been wanting you dead for a long time."

"Betrayal?" cried Faith. "I haven't betrayed the Horde. He's the one who ordered Vol'jin's assassination, not me! Perhaps you can ask the warchief why it is that he decided to have a leader of the Horde killed?"

"Oh, you won't need to worry about that," he said as some of the orcs moved in unison down the stairs that led to the ring.

"You're going to kill us, are you, mon?" asked Vol'jin. "For what reason?"

"Treason. Warchief Garrosh hereby sentences you all to death. And the bears as well, for aiding and abetting you."

"The bears, as you delicately put it, could surprise you." Faith kept her eyes on the goblin and not on a lone figure hiding behind a column just outside the temple. She had taken off her cloak so that it wouldn't flap in the wind, and had her bow at the ready. Slowly, she signaled to Faith, indicating that more Kor'kron were on the way.

"Kill them," said Laxx quietly.

The orcs began to attack, and Faith put up an immediate barrier between herself and their assailants, which stopped the hail of bullets that suddenly tore through the air. They bounced off the glimmering shield of arcane energy, and as they did so, Faith caught Laxx entering a portal and disappearing.

"Coward!" she screamed.

The pandaren were fighting, using their own metallic shields to stop the bullets. Sylvanas leapt from behind the column and skewered one of the shooters before he had even realized that she was behind him. Vol'jin, for his part, grabbed a large spear and hurled it through the air, catching another orc in the thigh. Screaming out in pain, the female fell from the ledge, dropping her gun in the process.

Luckily for them, not all the orcs had brought guns. Sylvanas dealt with the three other shooters swiftly, allowing Faith the time to grab her blade and charge a huge orc she recognized.

"Malek!" she cried dodging to the side as he swung an enormous axe at her. "Don't do this!"

"I have orders."

She parried his second blow. Had her blade not been magical in nature, it would have been shattered, but instead, it sizzled, spitting out violet sparks where the blade had hit it. Calling out a spell, she thrust her free hand forward, catching the orc's chest armor. From her hand crawled dozens of frozen tentacles, blue-white in color. Seeping through every tiny crack in his armor, they hit his skin, and he began to scream as he froze. A few seconds later, he had been transformed into a glittering statue of ice.

Faith wrenched her hand away and charged at another orc who had just disarmed a pandaren trainee, who, despite her fear, was facing her foe bravely. The orc raised a sword to kill her.

"You have no honor, attacking an unarmed enemy!" cried Faith.

The orc turned to glare at her. To be accused of having no honor was a great insult to an orc. In his fury, he misjudged Faith's ability and charged directly at her.

An arrow pierced his back, and he fell forward, spraying Faith with bright red blood.

"I had him!" cried Faith, glancing up at Sylvanas, who merely smirked. "Sylvanas, watch out!"

The Banshee Queen turned around just in time. Three Kor'kron had snuck up behind her, their axes raised. Faith screamed out a spell, causing jets of arcane energy to shoot from each of her outstretched fingers just as they swung. The energy wrapped itself around Sylvanas, and when Faith pulled, she was tugged off the ledge, falling backwards.

Faith teleported, and Sylvanas crashed on top of her with a sickening crunch. Pain laced Faith's right side, sending agony coursing through her, and Sylvanas cursed as her shoulder popped out of its socket, "By the gods, Faith…"

Not saying anything, Faith cast a shield around them, and both Ban and Vol'jin ran to them.

"You're both hurt!" said Ban. "I don't know who…"

"Heal Sylvanas first," hissed Faith, thrusting a hand out of the barrier and casting another spell, which caught a goblin off-guard. He fell where he was and didn't move.

Sylvanas gave a harsh cry as Ban popped her shoulder back into place. "We should get out of here," she said, wincing.

"We can't leave them like this!" exclaimed Faith, "Ouch!"

"Hold still. What were you thinking with that move?" asked Ban as tendrils of pale green light wrapped around the area Faith had injured when Sylvanas had fallen on her.

"My sword could have killed you," said Sylvanas, rotating her shoulder and picking up an arrow. She nocked it and fired, killing another orc.

"Better me than you," said Faith.

Ban shook his head, "This is the best I can do. I'm not used to healing undead."

"It's fine," said Faith. "Thank you, Ban." She stood up, finding that she was still in pain, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been. "By the Light, they're going into the Monastery!" She began chanting, and suddenly, the snow around them coalesced into a huge ice lance. With a cry, she released it and saw it embedding itself in three of their enemies, who fell. One of them died, while the two others were incapacitated by the ice, which had frozen them, allowing a couple of monks to finish them off.

"We  _must_  get out of here," said Sylvanas again.

"You go," said Faith. "I'll make a portal to Silvermoon for you and join you later."

"I'm not leaving you here!" shouted Sylvanas, outraged.

"And I'm not leaving the Shado-Pan to Garrosh's mercy. So if you want me to come with you, help me fight!"

Sylvanas muttered a sentence in Thalassian that she had probably never said in front of her mother, throwing a dagger into a goblin who had gotten too close to them. "Let's  _go_  then!"

As one, the four of them began to move towards the monastery, stepping over the bodies of the fallen as they climbed up the stairs. Blood was freezing in pools on the ground, and they had to be careful not to slip on it.

They reached the doors to the monastery to see one of the monks battling furiously with a young female orc. Unused to judging an orc's age, Faith nevertheless noticed that the female was barely out of her teens.

Faith swept her arm in an arc, murmuring a spell, which coated her fingers white. The magic collided with the orc, who was slammed into the wall on their right. She didn't stir, but Faith noted that she was still breathing. "Unreal," she whispered. "He's sending teenagers into battle now."

"This surprises you?" asked Sylvanas. "You should know what he's like by now." She looked at the pandaren who had been fighting, "Go help the wounded outside, if you find any."

The pandaren nodded and rushed out of the room as the others advanced.

Orcs and pandaren were fighting everywhere. Sylvanas counted at least nine groups that she could see, and there were likely more.

"All this because he tried to kill me," said Vol'jin quietly.

"We can't kill them all," said Faith. "They're still members of the Horde. All they're doing is following orders."

"Orders to kill us all, Faith," said Sylvanas. "They tried to kill  _you_ , so don't expect me to be soft on them."

She leapt into the fray, catching an orc with her blade before nocking an arrow and firing. Another Kor'kron fell, and Faith once again marveled at how easy she made it look, despite feeling sorrow at the warriors they were killing.

Faith lost track of time. The battle could have lasted another twenty minutes or another hour, she didn't know. All she was aware of was the body count. Orcs and pandaren lay dead or dying in heaps, and it was a sad sight. Blood, horribly bright, stained the marbled floor and the walls.

By the time it was over, more than a hundred Kor'kron had perished, along with fifty members of the Shado-Pan, most of them trainees. Twice that number had been wounded, and were resting in various chambers. Sin'dorei priests, who had arrived by portal, were looking after them, healing everyone they could.

Leaning against a column, Faith surveyed the scene outside, where people were putting the orcs to rest. She felt a sense of failure at what had happened. Sylvanas appeared next to her and took her hand.

"I know you didn't want to kill them," she said gently.

Faith took her hand away from Sylvanas', "We could have taken them prisoner."

"And where would we have put them?"

"Anywhere. It would have been better than killing them."

"You know they would have never surrendered."

"They didn't have to surrender! One blow to the head and they would have been incapacitated."

"Should I remind you that Garrosh didn't try to arrest you when he thought that you'd betrayed the Horde? He had you assassinated."

"Will you never let that go?"

" _You're_  asking  _me_  to let that go? For ten years, you refused to let go the fact that Arthas murdered me!"

Faith shook her head, "That was different."

Sylvanas snorted, "No it wasn't. Garrosh had you killed, and I will not rest until he's been eliminated."

"And damn the consequences of killing people we've been working with for years?"

"When are you going to get it through your thick skull that I love you as much as you love me? Is it so hard for you to understand? I don't care about the fact that we've been working with them for years. If they try to kill you, I go after them." Sylvanas pulled Faith to her, wrapping her arms around her, "Don't struggle against me."

Closing her eyes, Faith relaxed in Sylvanas' arms. "I know you love me."

"You had better."

"Did you have to be so brutal against them?"

"What did you want me to do? Invite them back home for a cup of tea?" She kissed her, "Did you send word to Taran Zhu?"

A nod, "I told him that we had moved Vol'jin and that we were healing the wounded. He's going to hate us for this."

"This was  _not_  your fault, do you hear me? You didn't bring Vol'jin here, and you certainly didn't force the pandaren to take care of him."

"But I put them in danger by coming back here all the time. I never dreamed that someone was tailing me."

"You didn't sense him at all?"

"No," said Faith. "Not even once. He would have had to be glued to me to follow me from Undercity to here."

"Maybe Garrosh stationed him here to see what you were up to. It doesn't matter now. What matters is that we get Vol'jin someplace safe and try to figure out what to do next."

She was right. Vol'jin couldn't stay in Silvermoon. But where could they put him?

"Darkspear Isle," he said when they joined him at Sunfury Spire. "Da best thing for me to do is to be wit' my people. If Garrosh finds me there, let him. I will fight him with da rest of da Darkspear."

"Where  _is_  Garrosh anyway?" wondered Faith. "He wasn't at the monastery, and I would think that he would want to do the deed himself."

"Let's hope he's not out there creating monsters," said Sylvanas.

What Garrosh was up to, they found out just as they got ready to move Vol'jin. Word came from Kun-Lai Summit about an ancient bell that had been created by the mogu to enhance chaos and strike fear into the heart of enemies. It had been said to strike the fear of the gods into them, and so had been called the Divine Bell.

"Da Shao-Pan told me about it while I was with them," said Vol'jin to the courier. "What did Garrosh do wit' it?"

"He… apparently he tried to kill Prince Anduin with it."

" _What_?" shouted Faith, her cry echoing throughout the room they were in. "Prince Anduin? Are you sure?"

The courier trembled at the sight of her. It was dark in the portal chamber, lit only by soft baubles of arcane magic, and Faith's orange eyes glowed fiercely, illuminating the face between her hood. He nodded, "Yes, Lady Everstone."

"And how  _is he_?"

"He… we don't really know. I'm sorry."

"How could you not know?" asked Sylvanas, putting a hand on Faith's shoulder.

"We were only given a small amount of information. I wish I knew more, I really do. All I heard is that the bell was destroyed and that the prince was severely injured."

Faith moved away from Sylvanas and began to pace, "I'm going to Dalaran."

"You can't!" cried both Sylvanas and Vol'jin. "Faith, if you go to Dalaran, they'll kill you. Garrosh is warchief of the Horde now, and he's attempted to assassinate the crown prince of Stormwind. You are a commander of the Horde, not to mention my lover. They'll kill you just to set an example."

"We have to do something!"

Sylvanas went to stand in front of Faith, physically stopping her pacing, "Listen to me. We are doing something. But we can't be everywhere at once. We need to look at things logically."

"I am looking at things logically. Garrosh has to be stopped."

"And what do you think we're trying to do? Vilak went to Orgrimmar before you went back to Kun-Lai Summit, didn't he? He told you what he saw there?"

Faith gave a nod.

"And what did you see there?"

"Things are bad," said Faith.

"Tell us, Faith," said Vol'jin, coming closer to them.

Faith looked at him, then at Sylvanas, and at Halduron, who was standing in the doorway, watching them. "People have definitely disappeared. Gunwor, who had a small shop in the Cleft of Shadows, disappeared two days before Vilak arrived. The leatherworker Roggar was found dead near the fishing pond with a knife in his back. And Vilak swears he heard someone say that Gamon from Thunder Bluff had been arrested."

"What about da Darkspear?"

Looking at Sylvanas' boots now, Faith told him what she'd heard, about executions having taken place over the last ten days. "Vilak wasn't sure whether the ones who were executed were trolls or other people. He only said that they had been called traitors."

Sylvanas pushed the hood of Faith's cloak off her, revealing her whole face, "You see? You and I aren't the only ones who have been hurt by Garrosh. You said it yourself before, we need to work together. So, let's get Vol'jin out of here, then we can talk about what we're going to do about this mess."


	63. Chapter 63

The two of them hadn't made love in a while. Both felt a need for each other that hadn't been there since the days they had denied themselves the pleasure of being together.

As they walked around Darkspear Isle, checking its defenses and cloaking it from prying eyes, their hands brushed together. They were wearing gloves, but that mattered very little. Either because of the potions they took on a regular basis, or because lust naturally heightened their senses, they felt the touch from the point of contact down to their very toes.

The fifth time this happened, Sylvanas grabbed her hand, and Faith jumped, as though burned.

"Relax," said Sylvanas quietly. "I'm right here."

"Too far away from me…" mumbled Faith in a voice so low Sylvanas wouldn't have heard it had she not been so in tune with her.

Sylvanas stopped walking and turned to face her, "I know. But now really isn't the best time."

"I'm aware of that. I just… give me a moment." She stepped closer, resting her head on Sylvanas' shoulder and closing her eyes. Sylvanas stood completely still, her arms around her. Her need for her lover was absolute, but she forced herself, calling on her willpower, to keep it at bay.

"When all this is over," she said, "I'll make love to you so thoroughly you won't be able to walk for a week."

Faith chuckled, "Challenge accepted." She grew serious again, raising her head to look at Sylvanas, "Kiss me."

"Oh no. If I kiss you, we'll get carried away, and I really don't feel like giving Vol'jin a performance."

"He won't know."

"He's standing right behind you, love," she said as he appeared behind a boulder.

"Oh…" Faith turned her head, "Sorry, Vol'jin."

Vol'jin smiled, looking up at the sky, "I heard nothing."

Sylvanas moved away from Faith, ignoring the immediate feeling of loss that came over her as she did so, "We are pretty much done with the fortifications. Nobody should see anything from the shore if they look this way."

"Thank you," Vol'jin told her.

"What do we do now?" asked Faith.

"Check with the other leaders of the Horde and Alliance to see what's going on," said Sylvanas. "Faith, that'll be up to you. Look for them in Pandaria. I heard that General Taylor went back to the Vale of Eternal Blossoms, so you should probably make your way there to talk to him."

"Where did you hear that?"

Sylvanas smiled, "I have my spies."

Faith smiled back at her, "I guess I should go. Will you stay here, or shall I make you a portal to Undercity?"

"Even you can't make two portals in a row after a battle. I'll come with you."

"You will?" There was hope and desperation in Faith's voice as she looked at the queen.

"Let's go. Vol'jin, we'll send word to you as soon as we can."

He nodded and watched while Faith created a portal to the Shrine of Two Moons and stepped through it with Sylvanas.

The two of them landed on the terrace just outside the shrine, but before they could do so much as blink, the world exploded.

Faith was thrown sideways into the tree that grew at the center of the terrace. Sylvanas was thrown with her by the force of an unknown blast, practically collapsing on top of her. Instinctively, she covered Faith's body with her own until the explosive winds died down.

An eerie quiet fell upon them all. Sylvanas looked at Faith, wiping blood from her scalp with her thumb, "Are you okay?" she asked.

"I think so… are you? Were you hurt?"

"I'm all right, don't worry."

They helped each other up, and were met with a devastating scene.

The pools at the front of Mogu'shan Palace had exploded with sha energies, decimating the land around them. The palace had been damaged, as had their shrine. The floor of the Vale was covered in a dense mist from which sha essences were slowly emerging.

Directly to their left, they saw a pandaren on the floor, clearly dead, his neck broken by the explosion. In front of him, a female stood shakily, cradling a stump that had once been her arm.

Faith looked at Sylvanas, who nodded. As one, they moved towards the injured and began helping as many people as they could. A male orc who had lost an eye. A Sin'dorei warlock with an abdominal injury.

"We were lucky," Sylvanas told her later as they walked down to examine the damage to the rest of the Vale. "Had there been more people on the balcony, the casualties would have been heavier."

Faith nodded toward the landscape in front of them, "I hardly think it could have been worse than this," she said quietly. "Look."

The mist was dissipating, showing the complete devastation that had been wrought by whatever cataclysm had taken place.

Dozens of pandaren lay dead, their faces frozen in identical masks of shock. Faith checked as many of them as she could, decimating the sha when they got too close to her.

"They're all dead," said Faith to Sylvanas, kneeling beside the body of one of the fallen.

Sylvanas put a hand on her shoulder, "Not all of them, love. Look."

Faith looked up. Across the expanse, she saw a lone pandaren, making his way towards them. He was obviously injured, and was using a tree branch to walk, but he seemed not to care about himself, instead killing whatever sha he could reach.

"It's Taran Zhu."

"It is," agreed Sylvanas. She walked to him, helping him over to where Faith was. "What happened?" she asked.

"Your warchief." He wasn't able to say anything else, as more sha began to attack them. They spent some time defending themselves, until a few Thunder Bluff braves came to help them, bringing them back towards the Shrine of Two Moons.

"What do you mean, our warchief?" wondered Faith. "Garrosh? What did he do?"

Haltingly, Taran Zhu explained how Garrosh had excavated the heart of the Old God Y'Shaarj from the Vale, and had brought it to the pools of Mogu'shan Palace in order to restore it.

"Restore it?" asked Sylvanas. " _Why_?"

"In order to harness its power. He wants to use the sha's negative energies instead of trying to get rid of them. The problem is that he has unleashed the Sha of Pride, which is the strongest and final Sha Prime." He looked at them, "He also said that you all are not a part of his Horde."

Sylvanas laughed humorlessly, "That's friendly."

Faith shook her head, "We should have never come here," she said sadly. "I'm so sorry, Taran Zhu… had I listened to you, this would have never happened."

"I am beginning to think that this would have happened with or without you. As soon as he discovered this land, he began to mine its secrets. I would say that he has found everything he needs now."

Sylvanas pursed her lips, "There's no point in waiting. We'll have to strike out at him sooner or later. Faith and I will return to Undercity and mobilize our forces there… Faith? What's wrong?"

"The Kor'kron in Undercity… Sylvanas, what if they have orders to take over? You can't go back there!"

"I can, and I will. If there is to be a battle in the city that I've built, I'll be there to take part of it."

"No…"

"Yes. You think I'm afraid of them?"

Faith said nothing, but her eyes spoke volumes. In their glowing depths, Sylvanas read Faith's fear for her and their people.

"We'll be fine," she said, kissing Faith's forehead. "Let's go, I want to get this over with now."

"You wanted me to talk to General Taylor…"

"I did."

"We can go talk to the Alliance, Lady Sylvanas," said one of the tauren braves – a druid by the looks of him. "We can just go to Moonglade and talk to people there."

"It would save us the trouble," said Faith. "Especially if we need to get back to Undercity quickly."

Sylvanas nodded, "I suppose we have no choice, after everything that happened. They'll want to strike out at Orgrimmar as well."

Strike out at Orgrimmar. Faith shook her head, wishing she could have a few days to take it all in. Too much was happening, and there was no time to think about anything. "Just a few months ago, we hadn't even heard of Pandaria, and now look at what we've done. The Horde is in shambles, Garrosh tried to assassinate Vol'jin -."

"And he killed you," Sylvanas told her. "The faster we get this over with, the better it'll be. So let's go."

Faith never quite knew how she and Sylvanas got through the next few hours. They got to Undercity to find that it had turned into a battle zone. The Kor'kron had been given the order to kill members of Sylvanas' inner circle, including Rotvine, Nathanos Blightcaller, and Master Apothecary Lydon.

Luckily for them, perhaps, there were a lot more Forsaken than orcs, and reinforcements arrived from Silvermoon less than half an hour after Faith and Sylvanas had entered the fray.

By the time it was over, the Second Battle For Undercity had claimed over a hundred Forsaken lives. Rotvine had been hit hard, but was still alive. Faith found him in the Apothecarium, getting fitted with another arm.

"Are you all right?" she asked him.

He nodded, "You know how a lot of people think that Forsaken can't feel pain?"

Faith knew. She'd heard that theory many times before. "Yes…"

"They're wrong. Losing an arm  _hurts_."

"Be thankful it wasn't your head," she told him, squeezing his bony shoulder. "What happened?"

"Is Sylvanas around? I'd rather tell her."

"She's checking on Nathanos. But I'll go get her, sit tight."

"I'm not going anywhere."

Sylvanas was in the throne room, taking reports from various parts of the city to check on the other Forsaken settlements spread within Lordaeron. She was in a towering temper, and greeted Faith with a smoldering glare before softening a little.

"He really hit us hard," she said. "Everyone at the Bulwark was killed. I'll need to send some Val'kyr to Deathknell to replace some of our forces."

Faith forced herself not to wince at that statement. "We still have bodies in Deathknell?" she wondered.

"Not many, but some. Some people attacked the Scarlet Monastery – not us, before you ask – and there were quite a few bodies there that we took back there."

"The less I know about that, the better." Faith put a hand on Sylvanas' back, "Carrick wants to see you."

"Is he okay?"

"He lost an arm, which would be a bigger tragedy were he still a man. He's being fitted with a new limb as we speak. But he wants to give you an update on what happened. You're bleeding."

Sylvanas impatiently wiped at her brow, but that wasn't enough to stem the flow. "Ugh, I don't have time for this."

"Sit down for a second," said Faith. "Just for a second." She pushed Sylvanas down onto her throne and put a hand over the cut on her head as she murmured an incantation

"I already told you I didn't want you using that kind of magic," said Sylvanas, glaring up at her. "Just because you're a Forsaken now doesn't mean I've changed my mind about this."

"And just because you're my queen doesn't mean I'm going to listen to you on this point. You're injured, so I'll heal you with the spell I know. You're the only one I use it on."

"You are  _not_  a necromancer!"

"Of course not. I just know one tiny necromantic spell to fix you whenever you need to be fixed."

Sylvanas looked at her, "Why do you refuse to listen to me about this? I don't want you to turn into me."

"I would be honored to be like you," said Faith quietly.

"Faith Everstone… don't say things like that to me." Closing her eyes, she pulled Faith into her lap, "You know what I mean."

"I don't think there's any danger of my ever raising a corpse, don't worry."

"What does Carrick want to tell me?"

"I suppose he has a report on the situation," said Faith, kissing Sylvanas' cheek and getting up. "I can tell him you're busy if you need time."

"No, it's fine. I should go see him anyway."

"How's Nate?"

Sylvanas raised her eyebrows, " _Nathanos_  is fine. His ego's bruised, but he wasn't injured. Neither was Lydon."

"That's a relief."

"Yes, I can totally sense your relief when it comes to Nathanos," said Sylvanas sarcastically as they walked out of the throne room. "Will you stop being jealous of him?"

"I'm not!  _He_ 's the one jealous of  _me_."

"Well, yes. You're my soulmate and he doesn't like that."

Faith stopped in her tracks, "I am?"

"What?"

"Your soulmate…" Faith's voice was barely audible.

"Of course you're my soulmate, everybody knows that." Sylvanas put a hand under her chin, "You okay?"

"It's just… you've never said that to me before."

"You've been my soulmate since the moment I met you, Faith. How do you not know that?"

Faith's orange eyes were huge. For a moment, their glow intensified before dampening a little. "I always knew you were mine…"

"I'm your soulmate, and you're mine. I don't think that anything could change that." She kissed Faith's lips gently, "Can we talk about it later?"

A nod, "If you want to."

Sylvanas leaned in close putting her lips to Faith's ear, "I love you," she whispered. "I will always love you. Even when I don't say it, know that I love you and that I will continue to love you until the world ends."

"Sylvanas…" Faith's chin trembled. A tear of dust fell from her eye, and the queen gently wiped it for her. "I don't even… how am I supposed to respond to that?"

"A kiss would be nice."

"You told me no earlier."

"That I did. But you and I have just had an incredibly stressful day. Come here." She pulled Faith to her while taking a step forward. Their mouths met in a kiss that was simultaneously sweet and passionate, and while the two of them wanted more, so much more, they forced themselves to keep it simple.

"Oh… I need you more than I did before now," whispered Faith.

"Yeah, so do I. Come on, we'd better get to Carrick before he wonders what we're up to."

"I know what you're up to, Your Majesty," he said, rounding a corner.

"Sorry," mumbled Faith.

"I don't believe that for a second," he told her, shaking his head. "If you two need to finish whatever you've started –."

"That could take hours, so, no," said Sylvanas. "How's your arm?"

Rotvine raised it, and they both saw that it looked a little fresher than the rest of him, its skin less decayed. "Good as new," he said. "Smells a little better than the rest of me too, I think."

"I'll take your word for it." Faith raised her hand and cast a spell on him, greatly reducing the stench of his undeath.

He chuckled, "You've been living here for nearly fifteen years, you're a Forsaken, and you still have a problem with the way things smell down here?"

" _I_  have a problem with the way things smell," said Sylvanas. "I'm happy Faith has the ability to do something about it sometimes."

"Sometimes?" asked Faith.

"I'd happily ask you to make Undercity smell like a garden, honey. But your skills are really needed elsewhere." She turned to Rotvine, "What exactly happened here?"

"The Kor'kron happened," he stated, seeing Faith quietly casting another spell. The smell of roses and jasmine permeated the air suddenly. It was subtle, not enough to overpower the reek of death and decay, but it lightened the atmosphere.

Sylvanas glanced at Faith, half a smile playing on her face. "They got an order to attack?"

"A couple of hours ago, yes. Some of them came from Silverpine Forest and hit Brill. We weren't completely caught off-guard, though. We staved off most of the assault with a minimal amount of casualties on our side."

"What about the orcs?"

Rotvine looked at Faith as he spoke, "We had to kill them, you realize. I wish we hadn't had to, but we had no choice."

"You did good, Carrick," said Sylvanas. "I may have to promote you."

Rotvine blinked, "No, my Lady, that's not necessary."

"It's a great idea!" cried Faith.

Sylvanas just smiled.

"You  _are_  going to promote him, aren't you?" Faith asked her when they were alone in her office. "You should have done it months ago."

She nodded, "You just got promoted to commander, which means that there's a vacancy open for Major of the Magi Corps. And even if there weren't, I'd promote him. He deserves it, even if he says he doesn't." She smiled when Faith hugged her from behind, "It'll have to wait until we're done with this Garrosh business, assuming we don't all get killed in the process."

Before Faith could ask what they were going to plan, there was a knock at the door, which opened to reveal Garia and Vilak.

"We have news for you," said Garia.

Sylvanas nodded.

"I just went to Darkspear Isle to talk to Vol'jin, and saw that Thrall was with him. They're going to be making their way to Razor Hill soon. They're just waiting on forces to return from Pandaria, so it's going to take a while."

"They can't all come back via portal," mused Faith.

"No, they can't. Who's on our side?"

Garia snorted, "Surprisingly, Gallywix has come to our way of thinking. The orcs took over the banks of Orgrimmar, and severely beat the goblins who were manning the booths. I think a couple of them were killed too. I think that Laxx is the only one of them who stayed with Garrosh."

"That little coward," hissed Faith. "I'll show him… leave him to me."

"I wish it were all good news," said Vilak. "There was another round of executions. About thirty trolls, I believe. From what I heard, they refused to bend to Garrosh's will."

Sylvanas got to her feet, "I expected him to do something like that. Have we been able to get people out of Orgrimmar?"

"We've tried. I have a friend in there, a female orc – her brother disappeared from the Cleft of Shadows – and she was able to make a portal for us to Ashenvale."

" _Ashenvale_?" asked Faith, surprised. "Why there?"

"It was the only place she'd ever been to other than Orgrimmar. It was all right, though. We were able to get about forty people out that way. Anybody else who openly opposes Garrosh has gone into hiding."

"They'll join us if we attack," added Garia. "I'm sure of it."

Nodding, Sylvanas dismissed them, "All right, thank you. We'll need to mop things up around here before we can join them. And I suppose we'll have to wait for Lor'themar and the others to return from the Isle of Thunder."

They spent the rest of the day hunting down rogue Kor'kron, who kept trying to ambush people all over the city. They also got news from Halduron, who said that Lor'themar had returned to Silvermoon in the wake of what had happened.

"We have a couple of ships ready to sail to Durotar," he told them. "We'll probably have another one ready by tomorrow."

"The  _Windrunner_  is also ready, Sylvanas," said Faith, who had been to the docks to check which ships were available. "A few spells should get us to Durotar in a couple of days."

"We have no other ships ready?"

Faith shook her head, "The  _Everstone_  is still in Pandaria. We have a few smaller ships that we can use. They hold about a fifty soldiers each."

"That'll have to do. We should get ready to sail as soon as possible."

Halduron took his leave shortly after, promising to get back to them as soon as the sun had risen.

"Will we ever have more than a few days of peace?" asked Faith suddenly. "It seems that every time we find some kind of balance, something happens to turn everything to crap."

"Not everyone wants the same peace we crave," said Sylvanas, putting an arm around her. "I know that all you want is for the two of us to leave everything behind, find a secluded cabin in the woods somewhere, and spend the rest of eternity making love."

"Is that so much to ask?"

"No, and I daresay that it's an amazing plan. But we can't just disappear and forget about everything."

"Yes, yes we can. Let's go now."

Sylvanas laughed softly, "Let me rephrase that,  _you_  can't just do that. You care too much about people. What about your tauren family and Lor'themar? Not to mention Carrick. You'd be devastated if anything happened to him and you weren't there."

Faith buried her head in Sylvanas' neck, "I had to be reborn with a conscience…"

"Lucky me, or I don't think you'd love me anymore."

"No, I'll always love you. I mean, your conscience is a little skewered and you love me still."

"Skewered?"

Faith nodded, "Yes."

"Are you saying I'm mean?"

"I'm saying that I'm happy to be on your side instead of against you because your opponents, for the most part, are absolutely terrified of you."

"What about you? Are you absolutely terrified of me?"

Faith smiled, playfully trying to pull away when Sylvanas caught her. "Absolutely," she whispered, leaning on the desk. Sylvanas pushed her down, caressing her side, which made her shudder, "Terrified…" Grabbing the front of Sylvanas' tunic, she pulled until the queen's lips were on hers.

Chuckling against Faith's mouth, Sylvanas shook her head, "I can see that."

"Will you make love to me?"

"Stop asking me that, you fiend."

Faith pouted, "Mean."

She helped Faith up, "Go on, get out of here. We have work to do."

"Love you."

"Love you too. Now  _go_." She watched Faith leave, nearly bursting into laughter when she saw her continually looking back at her. She kept her eyes on her until she was out of sight, away from her.


	64. Chapter 64

Faith stood on the dock, watching as the three Sin'dorei ships sailed closer and closer to Tirisfal Bay. Around her, Forsaken dockhands moved to and fro, carrying parcels and crates of supplies, putting them on the ships that would be going to Orgrimmar.

Sylvanas arrived, putting a hand on Faith's back, "Are you all right?"

A slow nod. "Just wondering what's going to happen to us this time, that's all."

"We're going to be fine. I won't let anybody hurt you."

"As if I were worried about myself."

"Well, I'm worried about you. And I'm telling you that I won't let anybody harm you in any way."

Smiling, Faith turned to Sylvanas, her arm going around her waist. Their position was natural, comfortable, and when they kissed, everything fell into place, at least for that moment. "I love you," they whispered to each other.

Rotvine was nearby, and he couldn't help but watch them. Sylvanas was looking at Faith as though she were her whole world, whispering to her and stroking her face with the tips of her fingers.

"It makes you want to hate them, doesn't it?" Garia asked him.

"I couldn't hate Sylvanas and Faith if my life depended on it," he replied. "But I know what you mean."

"They're cute, I'll admit that. I've never seen anybody love each other the way those two do. And believe me, I've looked."

"You won't find two lovers like them. They have a special bond that's rare, even among the elves."

Sylvanas turned her head towards them, "You do realize that we can hear you."

"We do now," said Rotvine, laughing. "Sorry about that, my Lady."

Keeping an arm around Faith, she went to inspect one of the smaller ships that was docked behind the  _Windrunner_. It was a sound ship that would be able to make the trip to Durotar without any problem as long as a mage was onboard to make sure no issue arose close to the Maelstrom.

"Good job on picking the ships," she told Faith, kissing her cheek just because she could.

Faith smiled, "I wasn't alone when I picked them. Carrick was with me."

"I guess I can go kiss him, then."

Not answering that comment, Faith leaned against Sylvanas, looking out at the water, "They should be here within the hour."

"Sooner, I think. The wind's picking up."

Faith stuck out her tongue, "It's still within the hour."

"Wise-ass."

"Your hand currently seems to enjoy my ass," said Faith innocently, glancing down.

"That it does. If nobody were around, I'd take you onboard one of the ships and have my way with you."

Faith winced, biting her lip, "Stop that."

"I would put my fingers inside you, and you'd beg me to go on. You'd start out tight around me, but you'd slowly open up for me.  It would be slow at first, but I would quicken my pace after a minute."

"Sylvanas, I'm warning you..."

She paid no attention to Faith's anguished whisper. "I'd put my mouth right  _there_ , and you'd scream out my name..." she gently nipped at Faith's ear. "Lap up your release just to hear you cry out again." She kissed her neck, placing a hand over her mouth so that nobody would hear the moan that escaped her. "Do you want me?"

Faith made a strangled sound in the back of her throat, and Sylvanas chuckled.

"Look at you, you're ready for me, my darling." She moved her free hand down to stroke a spot just above Faith's hip, and Faith nearly collapsed, her cries only just muffled. "That's my girl."

Shaking, fighting to stay upright, Faith rode out her orgasm, her eyes shut tight against the wave of pleasure that came over her.

Sylvanas laughed softly, "That was fun. I didn't know I could do that."

"I will kill you," said Faith, freeing her mouth. "I will kill you, and resurrect you, and kill you again!"

The outraged look on her face only made Sylvanas laugh harder, until dusty tears began to course down her cheeks.

"That wasn't funny!"

More laughter, "Yes it was. And you loved it. Come here." She wrapped both her arms around Faith, kissing her lips gently, "Oh, that was priceless."

Still disgruntled, but accepting the kiss, Faith looked up at her, "How long have you been hanging on to that one?"

"Months. I was wondering whether it would work on you."

"Good job."

Sylvanas grinned, "Thanks! It helped that you've been needing me for the past few days."

Faith squeezed her, "Do  _you_  need anything?"

"Oh, I took care of that before I came here."

"You took care of yourself without me? Sylvanas, that's criminal!"

"I'm a bad girl." Sylvanas kissed her, "Can you stand on your own?"

"Probably. Why?"

"Because I'm about to let you go."

"Why would you wanna do that?"

"Because they're almost here."

The Sin'dorei ships arrived a short while later. Halduron and Lor'themar disembarked first and hugged Faith before greeting Sylvanas, who observed this with some amusement.

"Did you have a good trip over?" she asked them.

"A fairly good one, yes. The seas were rough when we left Quel'Thalas, but things got better yesterday."

Faith chuckled, "I'll never get used to the two of you being so formal with each other. It's weird."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that the two of you used to dunk each other in the sea when you went swimming. I didn't see it for myself, obviously, but Taegan told me about it once."

"I guess people change," said Lor'themar quietly. "I do miss those days."

Sylvanas smiled a little, rubbing Faith's back, "I don't think you're the only one."

"I would have paid to see someone dunk her head underwater," said Faith with a faraway look on her face. "It would have been priceless."

Sylvanas shook her head, "You want to see the weirdest things, you know that?"

"I'm obsessed with you. It makes sense that I would want to see every little aspect of your life."

"You're not obsessed with me."

Faith stared at her, "What would you call it?"

"Love." Sylvanas kissed her, and Lor'themar looked away, blushing. "She told me once that she used to daydream about watching me wash socks."

"That's love indeed," he said. "I don't think there's anything sexy in watching anybody washing socks."

"Oh, I suppose that if I splashed water on myself –."

Faith clamped a hand over Sylvanas' mouth, "Don't you dare start that again, my Lady."

Lor'themar smiled, "So, are you guys nearly ready to go?"

"We could leave now," said Sylvanas. "Faith, you got everything we need on board the ships?"

"I did, yes. Ammunition, weapons, clothes, tents, you know, the usual. Nate's on his way to see us off, I think."

"Nate?" wondered Lor'themar.

"She means Nathanos," Sylvanas told him. "Honestly, Faith, stop calling him that, he hates it."

"Nathanos… Marris? He's still alive?" asked Halduron. "I didn't know that. I haven't seen him since before Arthas sacked us."

"I suppose you can say he's alive," said Sylvanas. "The Scourge raised him, and I brought him to Undercity when I formed the Forsaken."

Halduron glanced at Faith before risking his next question, "You two were pretty close, weren't you?"

"We had our moments, I suppose," said Sylvanas, squeezing Faith closer to her. "You can stop looking like that, you know. Yes, I was friends with Nathanos when we were alive. But it didn't go any further than that."

Faith gently disengaged herself from her, "Sylvanas, I know you had a life before me. It's okay. Look, there he is." She forced herself to appear normal as Nathanos dismounted from his skeletal horse, bowing to them all.

"Good luck with this," he said. "Please try not to get killed."

"You know the chain of command if I die," said Sylvanas. "Faith will take over for me."

" _What_?" Faith's exclamation caused several carrion birds to take flight. "What are you talking about? When did you decide… you're not going to  _die_ , Sylvanas! Not again!"

"You're taking over for me if I die, and that's final."

Faith blinked, "If you permanently die, Sylvanas, I'm coming after you." There was no question of her living if her lover was gone. She raised her hand when Sylvanas tried to say something, "No. If that's what you have in mind, you can stop it right now."

Turning on her heel, she walked away, teleporting herself onto  _The Windrunner_. She felt nearly physically sick at the mere thought of Sylvanas dying. She still hadn't composed herself when Sylvanas joined her on the ship.

"Dramatic exit, don't you think?"

"How could you even think about something like that?" screamed Faith.

"Look, I'm not planning to die here."

"Then what the  _fel_  was that?"

"I  _always_  make provisions for when I leave Undercity, and the directives are always the same. You're in command if anything happens to me."

"Nothing's going to –."

"Faith." Sylvanas went to her and placed both her hands on her shoulders, "Stop screaming. Something could happen to me every day of the year. Whenever we go into battle together, I know that you're going to survive, no matter what I have to do to keep you safe. I will die before I let you get killed."

Stunned, Faith looked at her, "No."

"Yes. You won't change my mind about this."

"You can't do that, Sylvanas. You're the leader of Undercity, you can't focus on me like that!"

"I can and I will. I would rather be raised by Arthas again than watch you die a second time, do you understand me?" Her eyes flashed as she spoke, and for an instant, she looked every inch the terrifying banshee that made her opponents run for cover.

Faith didn't know what to say. Sylvanas began to walk away from her, but stopped, looking back at her sadly.

"I just can't watch you die again." She went below deck, going to her cabin and sitting on the bed, her head in her hands.

Less than a minute later, Faith sat next to her, putting an arm around her, "Sylvanas."

"What?"

"Look at me."

"I don't want to."

"Yes you do. Look at me."

She did, and Faith noticed that the glow of her red eyes had diminished slightly, "You can't sacrifice yourself for me. Not again, Sylvanas."

"Please don't tell me what I can and can't do, okay? It's my decision."

"But it involves me. You already died for me once, my love, and you'll destroy whatever's left of me if you do that again." She pushed the hood off Sylvanas' head, "Part of me died when Arthas killed you. You know what that's like, you watched me die."

Sylvanas shook her head "Don't remind me of that. I beg you, Faith, don't."

Faith kissed her. "You do realize that I won't let you die for me again, right? I'll stop you. And if I can't, I'll die right after you, and that's a promise. I'm not living in a world without you." She pulled the Banshee Queen against her, holding her tightly. "Listen to us. We're a couple of sentimental old fools."

"I love you."

"See? Sentimental. I love you, Sylvanas."

The two of them stayed very close together for the duration of the trip to Durotar, not straying more than a few feet away from each other. They didn't speak of their feelings again, as there wasn't much more to be said, instead discussing battle strategies.

"We know he disrespects magic, so that'll be an advantage for the spellcasters."

"Hopefully," said Sylvanas, gazing out at the horizon and finding that the coast of Durotar was now visible to them. "But you know that he'll have a lot of people on hand to help him. General Nazgrim, for example. Will you be able to fight him?"

"I don't want to, but I'd rather be the one fighting him than let the Alliance do it. However it happens, it won't be easy."

"No, it won't be. We should get ready."

Faith nodded, taking binoculars from Rotvine and looking through them. "It looks like the Alliance is already there. That's a royal ship from Stormwind. I see ships from Darnassus and Azuremyst Isle as well." She looked at Sylvanas, suddenly apprehensive.

"Come on, this should make you happy. We're all working together."

"We're working together to overthrow someone who helped us take on the Scourge in Northrend."

"Nobody said this was going to be easy." She took Faith's hand, "Come on, let's make ourselves look pretty for the nice leaders."

"Let's do  _what_  now?"

Sylvanas laughed, "We want to impress them, don't we?"

"Honey, you impress people just by being there. Trust me, you don't need to do anything else."

But Sylvanas dragged Faith back to their cabin so that they could get changed. "I got you something. I know it's not your customary black armor, but… here."

It was a leather tunic with matching leggings and knee-high boots. Everything was the same dark violet color as the banners in Undercity, and from what Faith could tell, had been imbued with various spells. The Forsaken crest had been inlaid on the leggings and the tunic in a paler violet color, more as an embellishment than anything else.

"Sylvanas…"

"I told you that I was going to do everything possible to keep you safe."

"Thank you," said Faith gently. "You really didn't have to, but thank you."

"Of course I did. Besides, I got everyone new armor."

" _Everyone_?"

A nod, "Well, new reinforced tabards. I made sure that spells on them would keep them whole for a bit. Though I got Carrick a complete new set. New weapons too."

"You're a generous ruler, my love."

"I try. Oh, I got you a new spellblade too. Your other one was a little dented from all your recent fighting."

"Sylvanas, really…"

"Shh, baby. Let me give you things. Here you go."

The spellblade Sylvanas handed her was a magnificent curved scimitar with Thalassian engravings along one of the edges. Faith recognized the make instantly and stared at her queen, "This is a Brightsteel blade," she said in a low voice.

"You deserve the best."

"So do you…"

Sylvanas smiled, "I already have the best. I have you."

Faith blinked once, setting the blade down on the bed. She had no idea how to respond to that statement, which made her feel a million things at once. She opened her mouth to say something, but closed it again. She sat down, looking at her, her eyes huge.

Sitting next to her, Sylvanas brushed a lock of hair away from her temple. She said nothing, only kissing her temple, her forehead, her cheek, and finally, her lips. Faith put her arms around her, responding to her in a way that would have sent both of their hearts racing in their chests, had that been possible. The kiss was slow, delicious, one that would have lasted a while had they not been conscious of needing to rejoin the others soon.

They dressed in silence, needlessly helping each other, their hands lingering a little longer than strictly necessary. The new armor looked amazing on Faith, and it was definitely good for Sylvanas to see her dressed in something other than black. The tunic fell down to her thighs, and opened on the sides starting at the waist to give her freedom of movement. The leggings molded to her legs like a second skin, and the boots fit her perfectly.

Finally, Sylvanas fastened a new cloak around Faith's shoulders. It was made of black mageweave cloth, with swirling violet lines that met at the center to form the Undercity mask.

Still speechless, Faith kissed her before reaching under the bed and retrieving a new leather quiver containing three dozen arrows she'd had commissioned for Sylvanas. The arrows were strong, but surprisingly light, their feathers impeccably cut. Sylvanas saw at once that they were perfectly balanced and recognized Faith's spellwork on them. They would hit true, she knew.

Out the window, they saw the shoreline much more clearly. There were people there, trolls, tauren, and even a few orcs, all of whom were waiting for them.

The two of them left the cabin together, both looking beautiful and terrifying. Rotvine was waiting for them on deck, and his eyes widened when he saw them. There was a sense of power emanating from them. He could almost see it, linking the two of them together and radiating out towards everyone else.

"My Lady, we're ready to disembark," he told Sylvanas, who nodded once.

They got as close to the shore as they could, and before they could do so much as lower rowboats into the water, several shaman gently parted the sea for them all. Faith, smiling slightly, waved her hand once, creating a ladder of shimmering arcane energy so that they could step onto the sea floor. The mages on the other ships copied her, and soon, they had joined the others on the beach.

Thrall and Vol'jin greeted them. They led them towards Razor Hill, through one of the largest encampments Faith had ever seen. Horde on one side, Alliance on the other, they all eyed each other distrustfully, although some of them worked cohesively.

"How many people do we have assembled here?" Faith asked Vol'jin.

"Five hundred from each race, give or take, except for tha orcs. How many did you bring?"

"About five hundred Forsaken as well," said Sylvanas. "Lor'themar I think brought the same amount of Sin'dorei. We can bring more via portal if we need to, but we're not really here to annihilate Orgrimmar."

They reached Razor Hill to find that it had been completely taken over by the Darkspear and several tauren braves. One of them gave a joyful cry when he saw Faith and Sylvanas arrive.

"My sun child!" he called, running over to Faith and picking her up for a long hug.

"Hello, Father," laughed Faith, hugging Atalo back and kissing the spot between his eyes.

"Sun child?" asked Sylvanas, raising an eyebrow.

"It's what he calls me," Faith told her.

"Pretty. No longer fitting, but pretty."

"She will always be my sun child, it doesn't matter if she's a Forsaken now." Atalo hugged Faith again, then looked to Sylvanas, whose mouth was twitching. "I don't know what you've done to her, but she looks great." He offered his hand to her, which she shook.

"She always looks great. I don't really have much to do with it."

"I do not believe that for a second. She's always better when she's with you."

Sylvanas shook her head, but she was smiling, "I suppose there's some truth in that. For the most part, anyway."

Baine came over, greeting them all in turn. "We're waiting for Gallywix now. He's had to be careful because Garrosh's forces patrol Azshara. Oh, and the Shado-Pan as well."

"The Shado-Pan are coming?" asked Faith, surprised.

"A few of them, I believe. They should all be here by tonight."

"So we battle tomorrow," said Lor'themar.

"That's the plan." He led them further into the village until they reached the village square, where a new inn had been constructed. Faith stopped walking, looking at an area on the ground. Bracing herself, she walked to it, uncovering the spot with a spell. It was faint, but she saw it.

"What is it?" Sylvanas asked her, putting a hand on her back.

"This is where I…" she didn't finish.

Sylvanas' eyes flickered down. Kneeling, she touched the ground, seeing a dim trace of blood there. Faith's blood. "Oh, my love…" she whispered in Thalassian. She closed her eyes.

"That's one of the things we need to make him pay for," came the voice of King Varian.

Clearing her throat and wiping at her eyes, Sylvanas looked up. Varian stood ten paces in front of her, along with Vereesa, Tyrande and Malfurion.

"King Varian," said Faith. "How's Prince Anduin?"

"Mending. It will be slow, but Velen is confident that he'll make a full recovery. He sends his regards to you particularly, Commander Everstone."

"Please greet him for me when you see him again, your Majesty."

He nodded.

They moved towards an enormous tent that had been erected on the other side of the inn. Faith and Sylvanas walked in together, stopping when they saw Jaina, Greymane, and Tyrande standing at a large table, watching them with ill-disguised hostility.

"Oh, great," snarled Greymane. "The dead are here."

"That will do, old friend," Varian told him quietly.

Greymane pointed an accusing finger at Sylvanas, "She killed my son!"

"And her lover helped mine. Bury the hatchet, for now, while we deal with the more immediate threat that is Garrosh."

"I will not work with them."

Sylvanas made to speak, but Faith squeezed her hand, hard, to keep her quiet.

Vereesa, walking into the tent with the others, sighed audibly, "Enough. Please. I… I don't want to fight."

"You came here to fight," said Sylvanas to her sister.

"But not like this. All of us here have been impacted by what Garrosh did. Some more than others."

"Vereesa's right," said Lor'themar. "We've got to work together if we're going to depose Garrosh."

"We could just use a mana bomb on Orgrimmar," said Jaina carelessly.

"That kind of suggestion isn't going to get us anywhere," Thrall told her.

"What else am I supposed to say? They all participated in the destruction of my home! And nobody lifted a finger to help!"

"Lifted a finger?" screamed Sylvanas. "Garrosh had Faith  _assassinated_  after the events of Theramore!"

"But you were able to bring her back!" hissed Greymane, suddenly changing into his worgen form in his anger. "I wasn't able to bring back  _my son_  after what you did!"

"You think that you're the only ones who suffered during Garrosh's regime?" called Baine. "He killed my father!"

The shouting got worse and worse. Someone slammed a fist on a table, suddenly, Greymane shoved Sylvanas across the tent.

Faith left. She walked a little, wincing as she sound of steel against steel reached her ears.

"What in the Light is going on in there?" asked a man, coming towards her. He looked like a priest, judging by his white robes. "I thought we were all supposed to work together?"

"Yeah, that'll happen," said a gnome sarcastically, appearing on Faith's left. "Wim Gearspark's my name. Pleased to meet you!"

Faith looked down at him and nodded, "Nice to meet you too, Wim. I'm Faith."

"The famous Blackfire, I know all about you!"

The man held out his hand, "My name is Balthazar. Balthazar Sand."

Nodding, Faith shook his hand, "Pleasure."

Atalo and Rotvine came along, followed by Haldren and Velien, both of whom were wearing their Argent Crusade armor.

"So, what are we doing?" asked Velien.

"Standing there, being embarrassed by the leaders we have," muttered Faith.

"We're supposed to go into battle tomorrow?" wondered Balthazar, stroking the short brown beard on his face. "With them acting like this?"

Rotvine shrugged, "Not very collaborative, are they? We'll be going into Orgrimmar like swine for the slaughter."

Wim ran his hands through his bright green hair, "Well, you guys have been to Orgrimmar. What do you think the best plan is?"

Faith pulled a map of the city from a pouch hanging at her belt and placed it on the floor before enlarging it with a spell, "I don't think that Garrosh is holed up in Grommash Hold, waiting for us," she said, pointing to the map so that part of it lit up.

"Vilak and Garia said that he was going a lot into the Cleft of Shadow, but I'm not sure for what," said Rotvine, lighting another area of the map. "Although I did hear that he killed the warlocks there."

"The Ragefire Chasm is in the Cleft of Shadow," said Atalo. "He might be there."

"What's that?" asked a worgen, coming over and indicating fortifications in front of the main gate.

"The Dranosh'ar Blockade," said Faith. "We'll have to get through that even before we can hope to make it into the city."

A blue-haired night elf peered over the worgen's shoulder, "We have some engines that could help with that," he said. "The dwarves too, I think."

"We have something as well," Faith told him with a nod. She looked up and saw that a large crowd of people from every race had gathered around them. A little surprised, she waved her hand and the map of Orgrimmar floated above their heads, so as to be visible to everyone. Rotvine enlarged it with another spell, watching as it grew by several feet.

"Isn't there another entrance to Orgrimmar?" asked a woman in the crowd.

"Yes," said a troll. "That be the Rear Gate, but it be guarded."

"We'll need separate teams," said Atalo. "A team on the blockade, one on the Rear Gate, and another one to take Bladefist Bay, because our ships will be useless if we can't get them to dock there." As he pointed at the map, it lit up in various colors.

"Could we have a team of healers too?" wondered a girl, stepping forward. She looked no older than eighteen, and had curly red hair that was pushed back from her forehead by a blue headband. "I heard they did something like that in Mount Hyjal, and it really helped."

"Healers are definitely a necessity," said Velien. "What do you think, should we have a large team of healers back here to heal anybody who comes back, or have healers with every group?"

"Both, I think," Faith told him. "Healers that go in with the strike teams will be indispensable to heal us enough to get us off the line, while the larger teams in the back can deal with the wounded on a larger scale."

"Could we set them up at Grommash Hold?" asked a Sin'dorei paladin. "Once we've taken it back?"

"Grommash Hold would work well to set up a center for the wounded without having to take them too far out of the city," said the worgen. "We could coordinate that with Malfurion Stormrage and Prophet Velen."

"That's a good idea," said Rotvine, nodding at him.

"What about liberating da trolls?"

Faith turned toward the female troll who had spoken, "We should have a team in place for that as well, and for anybody else who's been arrested. We know from our spies that there are some in Bladefist Bay, so whoever takes that will need to watch out for prisoners as well."

"Couldn't we have druids transform and see what's going on? Maybe they could find some things out for us."

"Tha' sounds risky, lassie," answered Haldren, looking over at a night elf. "Garrosh's forces know what druids look like in all their forms, I'd stake me life on it."

"But we'll be able to use druids in their flight forms while the battle's happening. Remember? We did something like that in Icecrown, to check on the Scourge fortifications and report back to our commanding officers."

Rotvine nudged Faith silently. She glanced around and saw Sylvanas and the other leaders standing there, looking quite abashed. Sylvanas' cloak was hanging off her shoulder, and she had a spectacular bruise blossoming on her jaw. Next to her, Jaina also looked worse for wear, with a split lip that was still oozing blood, and Greymane’s eye looked like it was beginning to swell.

"What's going on here?" asked Sylvanas, opening her mouth with difficulty.

Faith raised her eyebrows, "You guys seemed busy, so we all started talking and ended up working on some battle plans."

"Together?" asked Vereesa, who had a long scratch on her arm.

"If you have a better suggestion, feel free to contribute," said Balthazar to her. "It looks like you came up with several ideas of your own, though. I'm not sure how beating each other to a pulp is going to do us any good, but hey, maybe it's a new strategy."

Several people laughed. "Hear! Hear!" called someone, a male dwarf.

Varian stepped forward, "You all came up with something?"

"We were just throwing ideas around," said Rotvine. "You are aware that most of us have seen serious combat, so we do know a little something about tactics."

Sylvanas walked over to Faith, moving a bit more slowly than she usually did, "Who started that?"

"I dunno. We were just talking and it turned into a strategy meeting involving anybody who wanted to be there." Faith looked her up and down, "Are you injured?"

"I'm fine. What did you come up with?"

"Take a look," said Wim, pointing to the map.

Gingerly, Sylvanas put an arm around Faith's waist, looking at the notes that had been magically transcribed on the map of Orgrimmar.

"It's a good start," she said.

"You guys can go fight some more, and we'll finish working, then. Go on."

"You've made your point, Commander," Lor'themar told her.

"Good. Maybe now we can get something done." She looked at everyone, "Together. We can go back to hating each other after this is over with."


	65. Chapter 65

The strategy meeting lasted until just after nightfall. The delegations from the Bilgewater Cartel and Pandaria arrived as they decided that the Forsaken and Sin'dorei would be the ones to take Bladefist Bay.

"Taran Zhu," said Vol'jin, "I am glad you be here."

Taran Zhu nodded, "We are happy to be here. Sorry we are late. We had things to take care of in the Vale. We couldn't leave the Sha of Pride unchecked." He looked over to Faith and almost smiled, "We heard about the battle in your city. Are you all right?"

Faith gave a nod, "We survived. Mostly. It's good to see you all. How are things at the Monastery?"

"We have buried the dead. It is good that you and Sylvanas were there during the battle, or it would have been worse." He went to the map of Orgrimmar, examining it and making a few comments of his own.

Faith went over to Sylvanas, who was standing to the side, watching everyone, her red eyes aglow. Slowly, she took her hand and began feeling it gingerly.

Sylvanas hissed, "Ow."

Chuckling and taking out some potions, she put a few drops on the injured area before bandaging it securely, "Do you want me to get you a healer?"

"It's fine."

"Sylvanas, your knuckle is broken. Broken, as in, not whole. I suspect you have some bruised ribs as well, not to mention the egg-sized lump on your jaw."

"I thought you didn't care."

"I didn't care about you guys brawling while we were standing out here trying to come up with a plan for tomorrow. I hope you got it out of your system."

"Not completely, but it helped. A little. You did good out here today."

"You taught me everything I know."

Sylvanas looked at her, surprised, "You already knew how to be a leader."

"Yeah, from watching you all these years." She put a finger over Sylvanas' lips, "Be quiet and accept the compliment, my love."

"I'd kiss you, but I can't really open my mouth."

"You can't… hang on." She waved Thrall over, who rolled his eyes as he performed a few healing spells on Sylvanas.

"You brought this upon yourself, you know. You know better than to antagonize Greymane."

"I didn't  _antagonize_  him. He hates me."

"Well, you did kill his son."

"I didn't mean to. The arrow was meant for Greymane, not his pup."

"Liam sacrificed himself for someone he loved," said Faith. "Gee, I wonder where I've seen that before."

Sylvanas just shook her head, "Thanks for the heal, Thrall. Maybe you should go heal the others as well. And yourself, while you're at it. You got a pretty nasty kick."

"Honestly, what did you guys  _do_  in there?" asked Faith, her eyes wide.

"You would have seen it for yourself had you stayed."

"I wasn't about to stay and get involved in that brawl." She leaned against Sylvanas, closing her eyes, "Besides, I had things to do. I even worked with a worgen, if you can believe that."

"Are you going to be friends with them now?"

"Is that what I said?"

Sylvanas kissed the top of Faith's head, "It's getting late. We'll have to leave early if we hope to make it to Bladefist Bay in time for the attack."

"It'll take us less than an hour to get there by ship," said Faith. "Especially with magic. Lor'themar and his forces will need to rest, and so will we. I've got potions ready for people to take in the morning."

"Enough for everyone?"

"The herbs are all in the sacks I stashed in our cabin. All we need to do is mix them with hot water, and it'll be good to go."

"Always thinking about other people."

"Something else I learned from you," whispered Faith. She opened her eyes, "I want you."

Sylvanas burst into surprised laughter, "There's a change of subject."

"It's true, though."

"I've no doubt that it's true, sweetheart, I can read your mind."

"Then you know what I want."

"You really think that now's the time?"

"Of course not. But since you and I tell each other everything, I just thought I'd mention how much I want to slide my tongue inside your body."

" _Faith_!"

Faith chuckled. It wasn't often that she managed to scandalize Sylvanas, and, glancing sideways, she saw the incredulous look on her lover's features. "You know you want me to."

"We're about to go into battle, and all you can think of is –."

"You know of a better way to relax before a big fight?"

"We're dead. We don't relax."

"But we do make love. A lot. Well, not a lot anymore. We haven't really made love in a few weeks."

Sylvanas cursed under her breath, "Stop trying to turn me on, Faith, or I swear you'll regret it for the rest of your days."

Faith pressed her body to Sylvanas', her hand moving on its own accord, "Don't you want me?"

"You… you are g-going to be in such trouble when we get h-home."

A kiss, "Suit yourself." She pulled her hand away from Sylvanas, "If you want me to finish that, let me know."

She began to walk away, but Sylvanas grabbed her hand hard enough to bruise, and dragged her further away from the main camp, behind a couple of boulders, "You shouldn't have done that."

"Awe, you can dish it out, but you can't take it?"

"Faith, please."

"All right. I'm sorry, come here." She kissed Sylvanas gently.

Sylvanas hugged her, closing her eyes and willing her body to calm. "I want to make love to you. So badly."

"Why don't you let me, then?"

"Because I don't need just a few minutes with you, just like you don't need a few minutes with me. I need you, all of you. Everything you can give me, I need. I want. I want us to really make love, passionately, until our throats get sore from screaming each other's names."

Well. That certainly was a confession. Faith rubbed Sylvanas' back, closing her eyes as well as a vision unfolded in her mind. She saw the two of them in a similar position, a few years before everything had ended, holding each other and trying not to let go despite an imminent separation.

"I never wanted to let you go when we hugged, you know that?"

"What do you mean?"

"When we were alive. We would hug, and I'd close my eyes, trying to make the moment last, because I knew that if I let you go, you'd be that much closer to leaving me."

Sylvanas pulled her head back a little to look at her, "I know, baby." A kiss, "We should get back to the others."

Faith nodded, and a couple of minutes later, they had made their way back to where the leaders were congregating. The meeting had broken up, and most of the troops were beginning to settle for the night, except for the Forsaken who would be keeping watch.

A magical bonfire had been set up, and several people were sitting around it, talking quietly. Sylvanas sat down next to Vereesa, pulling Faith down to sit between her legs and wrapping her arms around her.

Vereesa glanced at them once before looking back at the fire. Then, without warning, she began to sing.

_When night falls, and things are dire_

_I think of a time with winter's fire_

_My flame at my side_

_My love's rising tide_

Sylvanas squeezed Faith closer to her, and added her voice to her sister's.

_Walking through the Thalassian Pass_

_Finding you there, standing in the grass_

_Calling me home_

_Your heart a song, your eyes a poem_

_Together side by side_

_Moving with the tides_

_We told each other_

_That it would never be over_

Lor'themar had taken his place by the fire with Halduron, both of them humming the melody to the old Thalassian song.

_Years later, it ended_

_Our hearts suspended_

_You were gone, I was alone_

_Walking through the Thalassian Pass_

_Away from everything I had known_

_Left only with the ghosts of my past_

The melody died away, and Faith, her eyes swimming with dusty tears, leaned back against Sylvanas, who kissed her cheek gently.

"It's been years since we sang that," said Vereesa quietly. "What, fifteen years?"

"Longer," answered Sylvanas. "I never fully took in its meaning until now." She looked up to find that everyone around the fire was staring at her. "What?"

"You… you have a beautiful singing voice," said Varian, who was among them.

"She always did," whispered Faith.

"I think he means now that I'm dead," Sylvanas told her.

Faith said nothing for a moment, merely stroking the skin on Sylvanas' arms. After a minute, she spoke, "She used to sing all the time. We all did."

Sylvanas nodded, "Faith loved to listen to me sing."

"Faith loved to watch you mop the sweat from your forehead," said Lor'themar, grinning.

Malfurion laughed softly, his arm around Tyrande, "Tyrande does the same thing with me. She watches me do the most mundane things. I'll be scrubbing a pot, and she will be watching me like a hawk."

The ghost of a smile appeared on Sylvanas' features. "I won't deny that I do the same thing, even now."

The conversation continued in the same vein for a while, until Vereesa practically fell asleep at the fire, leaning sideways and nearly falling on her sister.

"We should get some sleep," said Varian. "Are you sure the Forsaken can handle patrolling all right?"

"This is what we do," Sylvanas told him. "Go. We'll rouse you in a few hours." She and Faith got up with the others. Lor'themar noticed that they hadn't broken physical contact, still touching each other discreetly.

"Good night," he told them. "Will you two rest at all?"

"In a manner of speaking," answered Sylvanas. "Good night, Lor'themar." She watched him and the others go to their tents, before making her way to the tent the Forsaken had erected for her and Faith.

Walking into the tent after her, Faith pulled the map of Orgrimmar out again and began to examine it.

Sylvanas put a hand on her shoulder, "Are you worried about tomorrow?"

"Just making sure I know what we're doing."

"You know. You came up with most of the plan. What worries you?"

"Garrosh knows that to kill you, he first needs to kill your Val'kyr. And, let's face it, he knows how to kill them as well as I do. What if he comes after you?"

"Sweetheart. Garrosh is going to have all of us against him. Chances are he won't even touch me."

Faith looked up at Sylvanas, her eyes wide, "What about the people with him? They could –."

Sylvanas kissed her. Faith tried to protest, but wasn't fully able to resist.

"What was that for?"

"My way of telling you to stop panicking. I've told you already, we're going to be fine."

But no matter how often Sylvanas repeated it, Faith had a hard time wrapping her mind around the concept, and by the time they packed up their tent, she was actually shaking.

"Okay, look. I need you to stop thinking about the negative. Yes, Garrosh is a murdering bastard, but how different is he from all the other murdering bastards we've faced over the last few years? You killed  _Arthas_ , Faith, this should be nothing."

"I'm sorry," muttered Faith. "I don't know what it is about this fight that scares me."

"I do." Sylvanas brushed a lock of hair away from Faith's face, "He killed you. Not him personally, but he gave the order. It's that much harder for you, but trust me, you've faced worse odds before."

"Is this how you felt when I was in Icecrown?"

"I was out of my mind with worry when you were in Icecrown, honey. But that was different, I wasn't with you. This time, we're together." Sylvanas kissed her.

Faith nodded, "Okay."

"Are you ready?"

"Yes. I guess."

"Faith, I need you to tell me now if you can't do this. There's no shame in staying behind. I won't think any less of you for it."

"No, I have to be with you." She looked at the Banshee Queen, "You want me to stay behind?"

"Oh no, this is your decision to make, not mine. I'll support you whatever you decide to do, so, think it over for a little, and give me your decision." She left Faith where she was, going to find Rotvine, who was handing out herb packets to soldiers. A few feet behind him, a cauldron stood full of water, which Jaina replenished as needed.

"Faith had a good idea with the herbs," said Lor'themar, who was nearby. "The potion will definitely help everyone, even the Forsaken, because she did something to them that allows you all to absorb it."

"Good. We need to get going within the hour if we're going to attack today."

"We're ready. Atalo's handing out more herbs on the other side of the camp with Gelbin Mekkatorque."

"That must be quite a sight," said Sylvanas. "Did the living get food?"

"The pandaren are taking care of breakfast. But there's something I need to tell you."

"What?"

"Ji Firepaw went on patrol."

"I know," Sylvanas told him. "He came to see us just before he left. What about it?"

"He didn't return. Our scouts think he was taken to Orgrimmar."

"And you're telling me this now? They could be torturing him for information!"

Someone slipped a familiar arm around her waist, "Ji won't say anything. Aysa Cloudsinger is with us, I think he'd rather die than betray her, even if she is a member of the Alliance."

Sylvanas grit her teeth, "Are you sure about that?"

"Yes, I'm sure. About everything."

"How do you know Ji won't betray us?" asked Lor'themar. "I'm sure he's honorable, but with enough torture –."

Faith shook her head, "I saw him and Aysa looking at each other the way Sylvanas and I did when we were alive."

Sylvanas gave a hiss, "That's rough."

"Can nobody fall in love with normal people anymore?" demanded Lor'themar, rolling his eyes in exasperation. "What's  _up_  with you all?"

"Hey! I was normal!" exclaimed Sylvanas.

"No you weren't. You were ranger-general, and had Faith's brothers working under you. Your relationship would have never been normal, had you had one."

Faith held up a hand as Sylvanas started to protest, "Guys. We can debate this after this mess is taken care of. If Ji's been taken to Orgrimmar, we need to hurry up. We can't leave him to be tortured by Garrosh's forces."

"Let's go then."

It took them an hour to fully get ready. To her credit, Aysa didn't have a meltdown upon hearing that something might have happened to Ji, but Faith noticed that the pandaren was definitely worried.

The Forsaken and Sin'dorei took their ships, heading to Bladefist Bay as quickly as they could while the others marched towards the Dranosh'ar Blockade.

"Make sure we have the cannons ready to fire even before we dock," ordered Sylvanas as soon as they were under way.

"They've been ready since last night, Your Majesty," said Faith.

"And the ballistae?"

"We have one on each of the small ships. Lor'themar has three. They're ready."

Sylvanas gave a nod and went to stand towards the bow of the ship, looking ahead as Bladefist Bay got closer. As the sun rose, Faith went to stand next to her, looking at her.

She looked focused, determined. Her eyes were hard, their red glow fierce as she contemplated her objective. One strand of brittle white hair had escaped from underneath her hood and snapped against her face as they moved forward. Her skin, smooth because of one of Faith's spells, nearly reflected the light of the rising sun so that, for an instant, she almost looked alive.

Not turning her head, Sylvanas extended a hand to Faith, who took it, squeezing gently. "Do not leave my side during the battle, whatever happens."

"That'll make it harder for us to fight," said Faith quietly.

The corners of Sylvanas' mouth twitched, "I'm not telling you to sit on my shoulders."

"There's something we haven't tried," said Faith. "You wanna? It'll be interesting."

Smiling a little, Sylvanas pulled Faith closer, touching her lips to her temple. "Stay safe."

"I'll do my best. You be careful too." Faith kissed the shell of her ear, "Oh, and, honey?"

Sylvanas arched an eyebrow.

"Don't use the Val'kyr to raise anybody."

A pout, "Spoil my fun."

"I mean it, Sylvanas. People will be killed today, but that doesn't mean that they should be raised into undeath. I know that you want to replenish the Forsaken armies, but I beg you to do this when I'm not around, because I don't want to see it."

Sylvanas looked at her carefully. After a few seconds, she nodded, "All right."

Faith brightened, "Really?"

"Yes."

"Thank you." She watched Sylvanas for a while, certain that her queen would ask for something in return, but she didn't.

Sylvanas chuckled, "Why are you always surprised when it comes to me?"

"I'm not," said Faith, quickly looking away.

"Liar."

"It's just… this is a huge concession you're making to me. Had anybody else asked, you would have ignored them."

"I am capable of going into battle without raising corpses, you realize."

"I know."

"And you're right, if anybody else had asked me not to raise the dead, I would have ignored them and raised people out of spite. But you're the one doing the asking, and it changes things for me."

Faith didn't really know what to say to that. She kept her eyes on the water, lest the emotion on her face betray her.

"You see," continued Sylvanas, "there's this thing I'm going through. It's a little hard to explain, but I'll do my best."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm in love with you. I've been in love with you for quite some time, actually, which I think you know. This sometimes tends to get me into trouble, because there are times that I do everything with you in mind. It's both a blessing and a curse."

Unsure of how to respond, Faith turned towards her, letting her go on.

"It's a blessing because I know you love me more than I have a right to be loved. And it's a curse because it makes me do things like raise you from the dead when I swore I would never do anything like that."

"Sylvanas –."

She put a finger to Faith's lips, "But because I love you as much as I do, I'm more likely to listen to you than to anybody else on the planet. So when you ask me to do something, or in this case, not to do something, I listen. Or at least I try to."

Faith absorbed Sylvanas' words, her eyes closed. "I love you."

"I know you do, I just said that," Sylvanas sounded amused.

"Yeah, you did," said Faith, opening her eyes. "Along with everything else that makes me want to love you even more than I already do, except that I don't know how to do that."

Sylvanas smiled, "Trust me, you love me enough."

"No. It'll never be enough." Faith wrapped her arms around Sylvanas' neck, "I love you so much, and every second that goes by, my love for you grows. Light… I can't even…" she dropped her head on Sylvanas' shoulder, just feeling her there with her. Every curve of her body, the way she moved to accommodate her, the gentle press of her lips on her cheek. "I love you."

"I love you."

A Sin'dorei ship pulled alongside them. Lor'themar, along with a contingent of Sin'dorei, was watching them, a small smile on his face.

"If the two of you have finished whispering sweet nothings into each other's ears," he called, "I think we should get ready for battle."

Faith and Sylvanas broke apart, emotion so naked on their faces that Lor'themar took a step back.

Their ship was slowing down. Keeping a hand on Sylvanas, Faith scanned the shoreline, seeing nothing out of the ordinary, except that there were no orcs nearby. However, there seemed to be copious amounts of blood on the sand.

"Execution sites," said Sylvanas quietly.

"You mean where they…" Faith didn't finish her sentence. Garrosh had really had members of the Darkspear tribe executed. She blinked, a dull fury coming over her.

Sylvanas released Faith completely and faced the Forsaken who were watching her, "We're here to avenge the people Garrosh killed and to take the Horde back for ourselves! We will make him pay for what he did to all of us, and we will send a message to everyone who will dare stand against us again: we will not go quietly! We will never surrender our rights to tyranny! Never again! Stand with me, Forsaken of the Undercity!"

Even the Sin'dorei who heard her cheered. Looking at her, Faith felt more than love for the Banshee Queen. It was a sense of pride. Pride that they were together, and ready to do everything it took to keep their world from shattering. She knelt in front of her, and each Forsaken did the same, murmuring the Oath of the Forsaken, pledging their loyalties to her.

It was time.


	66. Chapter 66

**Author's note:  
** Please keep in mind that I am not a military tactician. With that said, I hope you enjoy this part!

* * *

All appeared quiet on the shores of Bladefist Bay as the Forsaken and Sin'dorei ships approached. But the female troll who had been tied to a post and left to die was aware that the Horde was walking into an ambush. Through eyes clouded by dehydration, she saw Sylvanas Windrunner and Faith Everstone disembarking, both of them checking their surroundings.

Neither was relaxed. Sylvanas had her bow at the ready, while Faith held her spellblade in her right hand, ready to strike at any moment.

The troll tried to scream, but she had been in the hot sun too long. Her throat felt raw with thirst, as though it had been lined with burning cobwebs, and she was too weak to cry out in warning.

She attempted to make a couple of hand signals, despite knowing that she was too far to make any kind of difference. In despair, she cast a spell.

Faith froze in her tracks as the ground at her feet turned to ice.

"What is it?" Sylvanas asked her.

"We're not alone," answered Faith. "I think we've lost the element of surprise."

No sooner had she spoken that a wall of fire hurtled towards them. Faith shrieked and put up the strongest barrier she could, stepping in front of Sylvanas to shield her. Rotvine joined her immediately, followed by half a dozen mages and priests, who set up their own barriers against the flames.

The fire dissipated. Faith looked up to see an enormous black proto drake heading towards them, mounted by a Dragonmaw orc that Faith only knew by name: Zaela, warlord of the Dragonmaw Clan.

The orc looked down at them, laughing. "Did you think we didn't know you were coming?" she called. Her drake let out a roar and opened its mouth again, releasing another jet of fire, catching the dying troll. Faith heard her scream as she was burned alive, and was sickened by what she saw.

"She tried to warn us," she whispered, a lump forming in her throat.

Sylvanas grabbed her arm as the drake prepared to fire on them again, "Use the towers!" she told her, pointing to a lookout tower on the shore, which was topped with a harpoon. "Now, Faith!"

Faith nodded, signaling to the healers to stay in front of the Forsaken fighters and protect them no matter what it took, before leading Rotvine and the others towards one of the towers. In the meantime, orcs were pouring out of a cave on the beach, and Sylvanas, ready for this second assault, engaged them with a cry.

"Let's get up there quickly," Faith told Rotvine, pointing up to the tower.

"That dragon's going to hit Sylvanas…" he replied, taking her arm.

In horror, Faith saw Zaela lead her dragon directly over to where Sylvanas was fighting. But the paladins there knew exactly what they were doing. Faith saw darts of Light shooting up towards the dragon, hitting it in the face. Roaring, it pulled away until it was out of reach of the spells.

" _Hurry_!" Faith ran inside the tower and began climbing, moving as fast as she could, the others right behind her. She reached the top of the winding staircase, getting to the harpoon just as Zaela brought her drake towards them.

"Incoming!" cried Rotvine.

The drake crashed into the tower before they'd even managed to load the harpoon. Rotvine gave Faith an almighty pull, and they jumped just before everything was engulfed in a fireball.

She felt herself fall, and did the only thing she could think of, grabbing a hold of the drake's huge tail. An anguished wail reached her ears, and she closed her eyes. She could do nothing to reassure Sylvanas from where she was. She glanced down, seeing that Rotvine had grabbed her cloak and was hanging suspended in midair.

With a massive effort, she pulled herself to sit on the drake's tail. Her arms trembling, she then pulled Rotvine up, grateful for the fact that he was so skeletal.

"I really thought we were done for," he said when she had a hold of him.

"You're not the only one." She clapped him on the shoulder and looked at where Zaela was perched. The drake hadn't noticed them – they must have been too light to matter to it. "Since she likes fire, we might as well give her some fire." Balancing herself on the drake, Faith cast her black fire spell, which caught Zaela in the back.

Zaela suddenly screamed as the flames began to consume her, jerking her drake in such a way that it went into a very fast dive, crashing onto a group of fighters and making the earth around them all tremble.

Sylvanas wailed again. Beheading the orc in front of her and heedless of the spray of blood that splashed against her face, she leapt over his falling body in an attempt to reach the fallen drake.

It wasn't dead, but Zaela certainly was, Faith's spell having incinerated her in a matter of seconds. Only parts of her armor remained, still smoking as Faith and Rotvine extricated themselves from the creature's limbs. It thrashed, trying to get to its feet, belching fire as it did so. Its cries sounded terrible, furious. Yet, in its fury, Faith heard pain.

She staggered up, nearly avoiding the drake's tail as it swung towards her, catching her in the shoulder. The blow was so strong that it sent her flying ten feet into the air, and when she landed, she heard a sickening crunch coming from both her legs as she tried to break her fall.

Sylvanas screamed her name, before calling out an order. Within seconds, several Forsaken and Sin'dorei had swarmed the struggling drake, firing spells at it, while others hacked away at its face and wings. The drake screamed, agonizingly so, then went still when Rotvine jammed a magical spear into the back of its neck.

Faith tried to get up, but saw that both her legs had been shattered by the impact. Bone, grotesquely white, protruded from a tear in her leggings, and had she been alive, she would have heaved at the sight.

"Don't try to get up," said Sylvanas, reaching her. "Stay down."

"The battle…" she hissed.

"Let's get you taken care of first. You can't fight like that."

"I can still cast spells," she said through gritted teeth.

Raising her head, she regarded the battle around them. A lot of the orcs had been neutralized, Lor'themar having taken over. Some were still fighting, but for the most part, they had fled back towards the blockade as soon as they had seen that Zaela had been killed. Things had lasted a surprisingly long time, which told her that there were worse things waiting for them in Orgrimmar.

"I'm going to pick you up, Faith. You're not gonna like it, but I need to get you back to one of the ships. You can scream if you need to."

She was as careful as possible, but the pain was so immense that Faith nearly fainted from it. Sylvanas murmured love and apologies to her, but didn't slow down.

A Sin'dorei priest followed them quickly back to the  _Windrunner_. "She's lucky these weren't broken with a spell, or they would have been much more difficult to heal," he said. "Put her here."

Sylvanas gently laid Faith down on the deck of the ship, kneeling behind her and placing her head on her legs. Faith wasn't saying anything, only looking up at Sylvanas, her eyes looking like firelight.

"Didn't I tell you to stay close to me at all times? Didn't I literally just finish telling you that before we docked?"

A smile flickered onto Faith's face, but she didn't respond.

The priest glanced over to Sylvanas, "I'm going to have to use the Light to heal her. It'll probably hurt her more, so you'll have to hold her down so that she doesn't thrash."

"She won't thrash. Will you, baby?"

Faith shook her head, but her chin trembled, so Sylvanas moved a little so that she could put her arms around her.

"Hold on to me," she said quietly into Faith's ear.

The priest started, and Faith's world went white with searing pain. Tendrils of Light touched her injuries, creeping like poison through her veins. She didn't know whether she moved or not. Couldn't tell whether she was screaming. All she knew was that the pain of being healed reminded her of the torture she'd endured in Naxxramas, and all she wanted was for it to stop.

The wave of misery passed.

Faith opened her eyes to see that the sun had properly risen over the bay, and that her legs had been bandaged. There was a strong earthy smell in her nose from whatever potion the bandages had been soaked in, and it mingled with the scent of death and old spices.

Sylvanas was there, still holding her as she spoke quietly to Rotvine. Around them, healers moved back and forth between people on deck. There were Forsaken, Sin'dorei, some orcs who had surrendered and, most of all, trolls, some of whom sported horrific injuries.

"What happened?" she asked. Her voice sounded horrible, as though her vocal cords had been completely paralyzed.

"Welcome back," said Sylvanas to her, immediately stroking her face with a gentle hand. "How do you feel?"

Faith blinked as she tried to move her legs. They were still hurting, but it was more like a generalized ache than white-hot agony. "All right, I guess. I've felt worse."

The Banshee Queen smiled a little, "You'll be able to get up in a few minutes. I'll have to leave you to get into the city so –."

"You're not leaving me. I'm coming with you."

"That's out of the question. Look, there were a lot of trolls held prisoner, and we brought the injured ones here. I want you to stay with them." She held up a hand, "We did what we came here to do, we took the bay."

"And you're just going to let the others take Orgrimmar without us?"

"No. I'm going with them. You, on the other hand, are staying here to rest. You were screaming so loudly I was having flashbacks, Faith."

"That's not… it was the Light. I've never had it hurt me like that before."

Sylvanas nodded, "I'm aware of that. You'll be in pain for a couple of days at least, but for now –."

"For now, nothing. You told me to stay near you during the battle, and that's what I'm going to be doing."

"You ran off to the tower."

Faith sat up fully, hurting herself but not caring, "You  _told_  me to use the tower! What, you wanted me to split myself in half so that part of me could stay with you?"

"Stop complaining. You're done fighting for the day."

"No I'm not." Struggling, she got to her feet. "See? I can stand now."

Still on the floor of the deck, Sylvanas looked at her, "Can you run?"

"I'm not leaving you."

"Fine." Sylvanas got up and called the Forsaken to her, "See if you can keep up without breaking those again." She started to walk away.

"Are you mad at me, Sylvanas?"

Sylvanas stopped walking and glanced back, "No. Just a little exasperated with you right now. Come on."

Locating her boots, Faith put them on and hurried to follow her lover off the ship. It wasn't easy. While her legs were healed and supported her weight normally, the ache intensified as she walked, distracting her. She didn't complain, but Sylvanas was in her mind, hearing her every thought.

_My love, if you're not in here to find out what my strategy is, I'll ask you to get out, unless you want me to start thinking about the way you taste when you climax on my tongue._

Sylvanas suddenly tripped, barely catching her balance before she fell. It was such a rare occurrence for her to trip over anything that several people stopped and stared at her.

"Are you all right, Lady Sylvanas?" asked Rotvine.

"Perfectly, thank you." She glared at Faith, who looked back at her innocently. "Commander, why don't you walk next to me instead of being in the back of the column?"

Faith nodded, trying not to smile. "Sorry, was that my fault?" she asked quietly as they started to walk again.

"You're in pain."

"I'm fine, Your Majesty." That was only a partial truth, and Sylvanas knew it, but she left it alone.

They arrived at the Dranosh'ar Blockade to see it completely embattled. Dark shaman were giving the Horde and Alliance forces quite a show, attempting to destabilize Varian and Tyrande, who were spearheading the assault. At the same time, people were entering the city, and as Faith watched, a pandaren came running out, half-carrying a semi-conscious Ji Firepaw.

Whatever had happened to him, it was obvious that it hadn't been easy. The fur on his muzzle was stained red with blood, and he seemed to have several open wounds, already infected.

"They must have used a potion or a spell for that to happen," said Sylvanas as Aysa brought him by them. The smell of the festering wound was thick enough to overpower even the stench of the Forsaken. Faith cast a quick spell on them all to freshen them up a little.

Faith only nodded. She knew that Sylvanas had had people in the Apothecarium of Undercity test such potions on prisoners. It was something she preferred not to think about. "We should get into the city."

"I agree. Follow me!" she cried to the Forsaken and Sin'dorei behind her.

Orgrimmar was a veritable war zone. Bodies lay everywhere, of every race. Some of them were still moving, but most of them were dead.

"Help whoever you can," Faith told the healers accompanying them. "If they're with Garrosh, make sure to subdue them before taking care of them."

"We've taken Grommash Hold," said Sylvanas. "So you can bring the wounded there."

The healers nodded and got to work, while Faith and Sylvanas moved further into Orgrimmar. Some of Garrosh's supporters tried to ambush them, to no avail.

"It looks like the Orgrimmar Resistance took care of the bank and the auction house," mentioned Rotvine, nodding towards several buildings, which had white flags hanging over them.

Someone came running over to them, a small female tauren in full druidic robes, "My Ladies!" she cried. "Garrosh has barricaded himself in the Cleft of Shadow. We're working on getting the gates opened, but Thrall wants to make sure first that we can take the rest of the city before we go down there."

"Oh, is that all we have to do?" asked Sylvanas sarcastically. She shook her head, "How are the goblins doing on the Rear Gate?"

"They're there. The idea to use portals to get them there faster was great, Garrosh's forces never expected them that quickly."

"Good. We'll make our way to the Goblin Slums and the Valley of Spirits then. We should meet up with the forces coming from the Southfury River."

They were on their way soon after that, quickly fighting the forces keeping the goblins and trolls hostage in that part of the city. Garrosh, it was obvious, had ordered his orcs to execute many prisoners on sight. A corner of the slums where the goblins usually lived had been dug up to serve as a large pit for bodies.

"How did we let this happen?" cried Faith, outraged at such a sight. "And how did it happen so  _fast_?"

Sylvanas was frowning, "I don't have an answer for you, Faith." She'd never been a huge fan of the Bilgewater Cartel, but what Garrosh had done was too much, even in her estimation. "The last reports I got didn't mention this."

A female goblin limped over to them. She had bright green skin and black hair done up in spikes all over her head. Bruises on her arms and face testified to the fact that she hadn't had an easy time as of late. "My name is Izzy Grimwheel," she said to them. "They started killing us three days ago, out of nowhere."

Faith looked at her, "Did they give a reason for doing that?"

The goblin shook her head. "We were taken by surprise, because they started in the middle of the night. Most of us didn't even have a chance to get weapons. I only managed to survive because my imp sacrificed himself for me."

"Your imp?" asked Sylvanas.

A slow nod, "I summoned him by accident once, and he stuck around, even when I tried to get rid of him."

"You got lucky," Faith told her. "Garrosh  _hates_  warlocks. But I'm sorry about your imp. Will you be able to summon him again?"

"Probably in a few years, I guess."

An explosion reached their ears. Sylvanas tensed, "If you can," she told Izzy, "gather the wounded and make your way to Grommash Hold. We're setting up a triage center there until we can get people out of the city."

Izzy disappeared, calling for her friends, while the Forsaken moved on to the Valley of Spirits. A group of worgen had arrived from the river, including Dane Winslow, the worgen Faith had spoken to the previous evening. To see trolls and worgen fighting side by side was enough to make Faith pause for a moment.

_I never thought I'd ever see anything like that_ , she said to herself before following Sylvanas into the fray.

She lost track of time. Most of the orcs who supported Garrosh were fighting to the death, considering it a dishonor to surrender to the "invaders" as they called the rest of the Horde and the Alliance. Faith felt heavy-hearted as she killed one orc after another, some of whom she recognized from Northrend.

Finally, after several hours, the spell-induced haze over Orgrimmar dissipated, revealing a bleak scene.

Buildings had been damaged, some of them beyond repair. The ground, already red clay, was stained a darker shade with the blood of the fallen. Scraps of clothing lay strewn around haphazardly, some still clinging to severed body parts. The smell of magic, blood, and overall death was everywhere.

Sitting on a boulder, Faith was receiving additional healing on her legs before they all moved to the Cleft of Shadows. Next to her, Sylvanas was examining arrows, discarding damaged ones and putting all the others in her quiver.

"If you give me the broken ones, I can fix them for you," Faith told her quietly, as Hamuul Runetotem finished with her.

"You need to rest. I don't want to risk you burning out again."

"I won't. I took a potion earlier, and it'll be good for another few hours at least."

Sylvanas turned her gaze towards her, "Rest. We're moving soon, anyway."

Faith looked right back at her, taking in the exact shape of her eyes and the way a lock of her pale hair fell across her forehead. Very slowly, she reached over and brushed the tips of her fingers across Sylvanas' cheek.

"Even in da midst of battle, da two of you look at each other as though nobody else be around," came Vol'jin's voice.

Tearing her eyes away from Faith, Sylvanas smiled at the troll, "She started it."

"I did no such thing," replied Faith. "She's the one who looks like a goddess. I can't help that."

"Since when am I a goddess?"

"You've always been a goddess."

Sylvanas raised her eyebrow, "You don't worship me."

"Yes she does," said Vol'jin immediately.

Sylvanas rolled her eyes, "How about we talk about all this later?" She gestured towards Thrall and the other leaders, "We're just about to move out."

Faith hopped down from her boulder, "Where do you want me?"

"You're a commander of the Horde, Faith. You don't need me to tell you what to do."

"So, that would be with you, then, okay. We'll move in groups of three. You and I can lead the main Forsaken assault, while Rotvine and Eliza can flank us and bring up the rear with fifty soldiers each."

Surprised, Sylvanas nodded, "That sounds like a plan. We'll leave the others out here in case Garrosh has other forces coming, which I suppose is likely." She went to where the Forsaken forces were waiting, telling them what she expected of them. Most of the other leaders were giving similar instructions to their own troops, and, soon afterwards, they were ready, beginning their march towards the Cleft of Shadow.


	67. Chapter 67

**Author's Note:**

For those of you who have done the raid, I've taken a couple of liberties with the layout of the Siege of Orgrimmar. I hope whatever changes I've made meet with your approval! If they don't… I'm sorry!

* * *

The area had been aptly named. All shadows and dark corners, it had been a haven for the more unsavory characters of Orgrimmar, such as warlocks. Magical residue still permeated the area, but otherwise, it was completely empty.

Faith knelt in one of the corners, trying to feel some of the magic, when Sylvanas walked over to her, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"We need to talk," she said.

A smile, "For future reference, nobody ever wants to hear those three words coming from a lover. It tends to lead to feelings of panic." She stood, "What is it?"

"I'd like you to be with Lor'themar's group when we go in."

"You… you don't want me with you?"

"Every day. But not for this, Faith."

Faith looked down, "I distract you."

"We distract each other."

"I know we do. I'm sorry. Please be careful."

"I will be. You need to promise me to be careful as well."

"I promise." She took Sylvanas' hand and kissed it, saying nothing else but knowing Sylvanas could hear what was in her heart. She left, going to find Lor'themar, who was nearby.

"I had a feeling she was going to ask you to come with me," he told her. "You didn't expect it?"

Faith shrugged, "I can't blame her for it. If all we're going to do is look out for each other instead of doing our jobs in there, we could both end up killed."

He gave a nod, "When Sylvanas was just a corporal and I was a soldier, we served in the same unit. There was a newlywed couple with us who had begged to serve together because they could bear to be away from each other, even during the day."

"Sounds familiar," said Faith with a knowing smile.

Lor'themar chuckled, "Right. Anyway, our commanding officer agreed, even though he really shouldn't have. Well, one day, as we were on a routine patrol, we came across some trolls, and knew that they were the ones who had robbed one of the villages on the coast."

Faith nodded, "I remember their tribes used to do that all the time."

"They did. And in this case, they had also killed a woman. So we attacked them. Everything was going as you'd expect, we were stronger than they were, and we outnumbered them. The newlyweds fought very well together, but they were completely focused on each other. They didn't listen to what our commanding officer was telling them, and it led to a fatal mistake."

"Were they killed?"

"Yes," said Lor'themar simply.

"Well, like I said, I understand why she decided to separate us."

Lor'themar squeezed her shoulder, "Don't worry, you'll be safe with us."

"Like I'm worried about myself."

"And you know that Rotvine and the others will keep an eye on Sylvanas. Honestly, you'd think that the two of you can't function without each other."

Faith shook her head with a smile, attaching a couple of enchanted daggers to her belt, "We can function perfectly fine alone. We just… function better together, that's all."

They started moving, one team at a time, going through the cave entrance leading to the Ragefire Chasm, network of underground passages that had been used by troggs even before the orcs had founded Orgrimmar.

"Apparently, Garrosh has found other chambers down there," Thrall told them just before they went inside. "It stands to reason that we'll find enemies all over the place, so be careful. Clear every chamber before you move on."

The first teams that went in started fighting immediately, as Garrosh had stationed dark shaman directly at the entrance.

"It's a good thing there are so many of us," said Lor'themar as they walked past a corridor the gnomes had invaded. "Someone will be able to reach Garrosh, hopefully before he does something drastic to kill all of us."

He led them further into a dark passageway that looked like it had been carved out of the rock instead of naturally made. They were following Sylvanas' groups, and making good time, when something made them pause up ahead. A raised voice. The sound of fighting.

"Is that General Nazgrim?" asked Faith in a low voice, recognizing him. She made to follow the Forsaken, but Halduron, who was with them, kept a firm grip on her arm.

"Don't be stupid, Faith. Sylvanas can handle herself, even against Nazgrim. If they fight… well, she'll give him a swift death."

Lor'themar pointed to a corridor on their right, "Through here, come on."

The corridor was empty, but there were traces of blood along the floor.

"Someone's been fighting here," said Halduron. "Did someone pass us?"

"Maybe," said Faith. "There are caves all over this place, any one of them could lead anywhere under Orgrimmar."

They got their answer as they ran into a massive open chamber. Their jaws dropped open.

It was like walking into an underground city. Huge iron pillars rose to the ceiling, as though holding up the chamber. Furnaces gave off intense heat, their uses evident by the piles of discarded weapons on the intricately carved floor.

Humans were fighting various groups of Kor'kron, with Jaina leading the assault. Several bodies lay dead already, both humans and orcs, and, standing on a raised circular platform, watching everything –.

"Malkorok!" screamed Faith.

He turned towards her, sneering. "So…" he said. "Little Faith has come for a visit. Where is your banshee whore? Somewhere else? Dead, maybe?"

"Spread out," said Lor'themar. "Faith, Halduron, with me. We'll take him."

"Let me have him," Faith told him. "He got Vol'jin and Baine out of the Razor Hill Inn before it blew. He knew."

"We'll be right behind you then."

Faith advanced, unsheathing her spellblade, which blazed with pink and orange light. Ahead of her, Malkorok ordered the orcs around him to join the fight and attack the incoming Sin'dorei.

"I will enjoy cutting your pretty little friends into pieces," he spat. "None of you were ever fit to be in the Horde."

"This is not the Horde we joined!" called Lor'themar. "We joined people who remembered what honor was. You and Garrosh, you know nothing of honor. You shame your ancestors!"

Malkorok snarled and leapt off the platform, rushing down the stairs with two of his lieutenants. He went directly for Faith, who was waiting for him.

" _Anest'alah_ ," she said, raising her free hand and sweeping the spellblade in an arc in front of her. Magic crackled from the sword in fiery hues and leapt towards one of the orcs at Malkorok's side, setting him on fire.

The orc screamed, trying to bat at his arms, but was wholly unsuccessful in getting rid of the flames, which slowly consumed him.

Halduron and Lor'themar split away from Faith, attacking the other orcs coming from them. Malkorok, for his part, faced Faith with his head held high.

"You will never get out of here alive."

"I wasn't alive when I came in, thanks to you and your handler. And you are going to pay for everything you've done to the Horde, I can promise you that."

Malkorok began to laugh. As he did so, he seemed to grow and almost flicker. His skin, normally the dark color of the Blackrock orcs, changed, beginning to glow violet in certain places as growths appeared over his body.

"Let's see what you can do against the Old Gods, then," he said, his voice magnified. He swung his right arm which, Faith noticed, had been cut and replaced with a blade.

Nimble on her feet thanks to Hamuul Runetotem's work on her, Faith jumped back, her sword catching Malkorok's weapon. Sparks flew. Vaguely, she heard Jaina asking out loud what was happening, but didn't stop to respond as the orc attacked again.

She moved away, the blade missing her by inches. She turned, quick as a cat, and placed her hand on his shoulder, murmuring a spell. Her hand glowed a brilliant blue as arcane energy coated her fingers and infused the orc's skin from where she was holding him up to his neck.

He gave a shout and elbowed her roughly in the chest, sending her staggering back a few paces. Advancing toward her, he suddenly stopped when an arrow embedded itself in his shoulder. Blood flew, and Faith's magic activated, flaring once and nearly blinding them all.

As it died down, they saw that Malkorok was down on one knee. The arrow had been incinerated by Faith's spell, as had part of the skin on the right side of Malkorok's body. Blood dripped slowly to the floor, but Garrosh's bodyguard wasn't done by a long shot.

He got back to his feet, finding himself faced with Sylvanas, who, at that moment, looked like the terrifying goddess Faith thought her to be. She had a long and bleeding cut on her arm, but otherwise seemed unhurt.

"You knew Garrosh was going to kill Faith," she said, her voice dangerously low.

Breathing heavily, Malkorok stared her down, "She deserved to die."

"I disagree. You, on the other hand, deserve everything that's coming to you, and more."

"You don't scare me, witch." He swung his arm, and would have caught Sylvanas in the chest had Lor'themar not pulled her back. A second later, Faith collided with him, parrying his arm with her blade. With a solid kick to the groin, she brought him down to his knees again. He gave a strangled scream.

"Kill him," came a voice.

It was Jaina, her face distorted with hatred. Her hair was disheveled, and her face was pale, but she looked strong. Determined.

"Kill him!" she screamed.

Faith hesitated. Something Sylvanas had told her decades ago came back to her, about how one always needed to defeat an opponent fairly. Malkorok was on his knees, surrounded by enemies. Around him, his companions lay dead, while others were running deeper into the compound.

"Oh,  _now_  you're trying to be ethical?" screamed Jaina. "Now?"

Sylvanas stepped forward, slicing Malkorok's throat so brutally that she nearly took his head off his shoulders. His body shuddered once, then collapsed to the ground, twitching. She turned to Faith, "Jaina's right. Now is not the time for you to remember something I told you an age ago."

"Was that Nazgrim you fought?" asked Lor'themar.

"Yes." She didn't take her eyes off of Faith, "He's dead."

Faith nodded. Nazgrim was dead. She'd fought by his side countless times, and his life was now over. "Did he fight well?"

"He fought honorably." She squeezed Faith's shoulder before turning to the others, "We should keep going. Let's split up again, we'll cover more ground."

They did as she said. Faith spared her a look before following Lor'themar and Halduron into a tunnel on the left, where they could see blood from one of Malkorok's injured soldiers. He wasn't far ahead of them, but knew the tunnels better than they did, for he moved quickly despite his injuries.

Twice, they came to forks in the tunnel and decided to follow the orc's blood trail, hoping that it wouldn't lead them into some kind of trap.

"What if we get lost down here?" asked one of the soldiers.

"We won't," said Lor'themar. "As long as we have spellcasters with us, we'll be able to find our way out of here."

"Look ahead," said Faith.

The orc soldier lay slumped against the tunnel's walls, just under a lit torch. He wasn't dead, but his breaths were shallow, and he looked at them, almost imploringly.

"You fought well, soldier," said Faith. "Be at peace." She killed him with one thrust of her sword. Shaking her head, she set his remains on fire before they continued through the tunnel, which was periodically lit, enough for them to see that people had passed through before them.

They had been running for nearly five minutes without encountering anything when suddenly, they stopped.

"Do you guys smell that?"

They sniffed at the air, smelling the distinct scents of wild animal excrement and damp fur.

"He's got animals down here?" muttered Halduron. "You think he's done to them what the mogu did to the wildlife in Pandaria to create the saurok?"

"I hope not," said Lor'themar. "That's the last thing we need. But I guess we'll find out. Faith, you go ahead, it's pretty dark in there and you can see better there than the rest of us."

Faith moved ahead of the column and walked forward carefully. On the ground, she saw skeletons of animals: rats, pigs, and what might have been a wolf. She couldn't imagine many animals living in such a place and remaining sane. Even the animals living in Undercity had more light and space than this.

The tunnel began to grow gradually lighter before ending in another large chamber. The smell coming from it was incredible, and several of the Sin'dorei gagged.

The chamber was a circular one, very high, and covered in dried feces and urine. Looking up, Faith saw animals hanging from chains, mostly birds of prey and dragon whelps who were trying to fly but could only hang there because the chains were too heavy for them. Along the walls were holes that were obviously being used as cages, as heavy bars closed them, like sewer grates.

"By the Light, what is this?" muttered Lor'themar.

There was the sound of laughter, which reverberated along the chamber. "Welcome to the Menagerie, my friends."

An orc walked out from behind two large crates, leading a sick-looking white wolf. He was a large Blackrock orc with dark gray skin and burning yellow eyes. His black hair was long and crinkly, and unless Faith was mistaken, had been soiled with dung.

"We haven't met, but I sure know a lot about you from my mentor Malkorok. My name is Nogash, and I've been keeping these creatures for Garrosh." He spread his arms wide. "You'll see, they're beautiful, and quite hungry." He shook the wolf's leash, and the wolf whimpered once before giving a terrifying growl.

"That is no normal wolf," murmured Faith. "It's been tortured."

Nogash laughed, "That is the way we get these animals to obey us. They will attack you when we tell them to. Watch."

He took out a whip and lashed the wolf once, twice. The animal gave a horrible cry of pain and attempted to attack the orc, who hit it again. The wolf fell, and a moment later, the orc hurled it towards Faith and her companions, who stood there horrified.

There was a strange long whistle.

The bars of the cages all began to rattle furiously as the animals inside launched themselves at the doors. The birds and whelps suspended above them snarled, attempting to free themselves.

And the wolf… the wolf rolled its eyes towards a female Sin'dorei, who was closest to it, and leapt at her with surprising speed. The girl gave a piercing shriek, barely putting up her arm in time as the wolf's jaws snapped closed around it. Faith heard the bones snap in a horrible sound, and the girl screamed again, falling to the floor. The wolf let go of her arm and dove for her neck.

Halduron fired an arrow, lightning-quick, hitting the wolf in the left eye. It slumped forward with a howl, collapsing on the girl and going completely still. Faith hurried forward and pulled the girl to her feet, handing her to a nearby priest. Her arm was completely mangled.

Nogash glared at them, "So you've beaten one of my creatures. I have dozens in here, and some of them are creatures out of your worst nightmare."

"I was imprisoned in Naxxramas, orc," said Faith. "Try me."

A light flashed in his eyes, and he unclipped something that had been hanging at his belt. Some kind of beat-up remote. He pressed a button.

There was a sound of gears grinding together, and suddenly, several of the bars on the wall cages sank into the ground. Two of the chains on the ceiling loosened, releasing a huge bald vulture and an ill blue dragon whelp. Both of them fell ten feet before righting themselves again and launching themselves at Faith's group.

"Shields!" cried Faith, raising both her hands and putting up a shimmering wall of arcane energy around herself and the soldier next to her. Everyone complied, either using magic or actual shields, effectively deterring the aerial attacks.

Faith looked around.

For the first time in her life, she thanked the Titans for ever having been to Naxxramas. Because coming for her was the most monstrous spider she had ever seen.

Once it had been a single creature, probably three feet tall, looking like an overgrown tarantula. But this one… it couldn't be natural, that was impossible.

It looked like two spiders that had been fused into one. Eight feet in height, it was black, with twelve scrabbling legs and a grotesquely-shaped head with three fangs that were dripping venom. Its many eyes were red and green, all of them malevolent.

Everyone scattered as the creature jumped forward in a surprising motion. Faith was certain that, had Sylvanas not been the one to raise her, she would have died on the spot. She rolled away, catching a whiff of the spider-creature, smelling Nerubian venom and a stench she remembered from Icecrown Citadel.

Someone leapt at it, but the spider turned away, pushing out a foot-long stinger that caught the Sin'dorei ranger in the chest. The ranger wasn't even able to cry out as it crumpled to the ground, blood squirting from his wound along with a viscous black substance.

The spider faced Faith again, who calmly rested her spellblade against the ground, point first, chanting a spell. From the point of the blade, ice crystals formed, coating the red clay that made up the floor of the chamber. The creature fixed Faith with its many eyes and stepped onto the ice.

It was almost comical.

The spider slipped immediately, sliding forward a couple of feet and falling. It tried to get back up, but failed, and screeched in frustration, the sound sounding eerily like a banshee's wail.

In the meantime, Faith was casting more spells. The first one froze one of its legs in place, causing it to scream again. She repeated this process three more times before sending out a wall of bright white arcane energy that hit the thing head-on. It flew backwards, hitting a small rock outcropping.

"Kill that thing!" she cried, pulling out her daggers and hurling them forward.

Two soldiers heard her, and began pelting the spider with arrows, stopping only when Faith got close to it, thrusting her spellblade into its flesh with a horrible squelching sound. The blade sank in to the hilt, and masses of clotted blood spurted forth, sickeningly warm as they coated Faith's hands.

"That's disgusting," she said with a grimace as she pulled her sword free.

"By the Light, Faith, look!"

Faith did, and immediately wished she hadn't.

Evidently, the spider had been female, because where her spellblade her struck, hundreds of spiderlings were swarming. Screaming, Faith staggered backwards, calling forth the first spell that came to her mind. The spider erupted into black flames, as did its grotesque offspring.

" _Belore_ , am I glad I no longer sleep, or this would give me nightmares for years to come…"

"Oh, what's around us would give you nightmares too, Faith," said one of the soldiers grimly.

He was right. Everywhere Faith looked, people were fighting monstrous creatures. Distorted boars that had four tusks protruding from their mouths. Two-headed snakes that spat bright orange venom in an arc. Hydras that had been tortured so much that they barely resembled what they had originally been.

But worst of all was the enormous devilsaur that came out of a separate room, making the walls tremble with each step. As large as a magnataur, it was covered in steel plates, much like Deathwing had been when it had come out of Deepholm.

"How do we kill that thing?" cried Halduron. The corpse of a huge shovel tusk lay bleeding at his feet. "It's got armor!"

"With a bit of magic!" called someone behind Faith.

It was Atalo, who was leading a haphazard group of druids and shaman composed of trolls, tauren, worgen, and night elves.

"Oh, magic will work against most of these creatures, I believe," said a green-haired druid that Faith knew to be Broll Bearmantle. "Let's go, everyone!"

The druids and shaman leapt into the fray, and Faith went with them, killing whatever creature she could reach.

Fifteen minutes later, most of the creatures were dead. The only two things left in the chamber were Nogash and the devilsaur, who had been tethered to the wall by magical chains.

"I think that we've shown ourselves capable of handling whatever you throw at us," said Lor'themar, looking at the orc, who was horrified by what had transpired. "We can either kill you and your overlarge pet here, or you can surrender."

But Nogash was never going to surrender, it was obvious. He took a step forward, meaning to kill the closest person to him, but three spellcasters got to him first, instantly turning him into some kind of petrified tree with black leaves.

"Now, that's an interesting way of defeating opponents," said Halduron, stepping forward to examine its shiny gray bark. "Is that what happens when shaman and druids mix spells?"

"Looks like it," said Broll. "Although I've never made such an ugly tree before." Everyone chuckled, and he turned his head towards the devilsaur, "What do we do about that thing? We can't just leave it like this…"

"Can anybody put it to sleep? Maybe we can find a way to get it out of here somehow."

"Not a bad idea, Sun Child," said Atalo. "Where would we take it, though?"

Lor'themar nodded, "I heard of such large devilsaurs in Pandaria, in a place called the Isle of Giants. It would probably be happy there."

"We can ask Taran Zhu when we see him next," said Atalo. "Let's work on this poor creature."

The devilsaur roared ferociously when several druids and shaman approached it, but despite its armor, the sleeping spells worked faster than anybody had anticipated. Its eyes got droopy, and as it began to fall, Faith and a couple of mages cast several spells to cushion it so that it landed lightly on the floor.

"We'll leave a few people here with it in case it awakes. I have no idea how we'll get it out of here, but we can work on that problem later."

"And how do we get out of here?" asked a tauren shaman, looking everywhere.

Lor'themar pointed to where the devilsaur had come from, "I thought I saw a door in that room, but I can't be sure."

He hadn't been wrong. There was indeed a door that led from what had been the devilsaur enclosure to yet another winding tunnel. It was lit more than the other tunnels had been until then, and Faith perceived that it was colder there.

The tunnel wound down, going deeper underground. They were joined by a group of draenei who looked like they had been through one hell of a fight. None of them said anything as they kept walking, the passage they were in beginning to get larger as they moved.

"You think you have beaten me," came Garrosh's voice, seeming to reach them through the very walls of the tunnel. "You've gotten so far, but not all of you are going to make it out of here."

"Through there," said Lor'themar, moving faster.

They had reached their final goal.


	68. Chapter 68

Stepping into the cavernous hall was like stepping into some kind of hellish dimension. Faith was forcibly reminded of Hellfire Peninsula in Outland, with its searing winds and bleak landscapes. This was much the same, with dark walls that made it look like they were all standing on the edge of a cliff, except for a furnace that was almost spitting fire on their left.

Here and there, they saw several archways that were probably other corridors leading who knew where. Just as they walked in, a group of Forsaken and gnomes ran out of one of them, looking so unusual together that Faith was tempted to laugh. She saw Sylvanas, and a wave of relief instantly came over her, so strong that she nearly cried out.

Others came in as well. Jaina's group, which had been joined with Greymane's and Varian's. Pretty soon, Garrosh and his band of orcs were outnumbered twenty to one. Even Thrall was there, looking more powerful than ever.

"Will you all fight us, then?" asked Garrosh, looking supremely unconcerned.

"We have no desire to kill every single one of your fighters," said Thrall.

"Speak for yourself," snarled Jaina. "I don't want to see any of them survive the day."

"Mak'gora."

The word rang through the hall, sending a chill down people's spines.

Faith looked for the person who had spoken, but he was standing right beside her. It was Baine, and he looked both furious and sad.

"That is how we will defeat you, Garrosh, in an honorable way. The honorable way that you denied my father!"

Garrosh began to laugh. "And who will fight me? You?"

Nobody spoke. Faith looked at Sylvanas, shaking her head minutely. Varian suddenly stepped forward, but it was Thrall who spoke.

"I was the one to appoint you warchief of the Horde. That was the gravest mistake I ever made, and the only way I can atone for it is by facing you in single combat."

Garrosh spat on the ground, "If you think that I'm afraid of any of you –."

"You should be," said Thrall, shedding his robes and stepping forward. "You will pay for what you did to Cairne Bloodhoof. You will pay for what you did to Theramore. You will pay for murdering Faith Everstone. And you will pay for all the crimes you committed in Pandaria."

The orcs that made up Garrosh's inner circle moved to be closer to the warchief, but Faith held them back with a spell. "Don't you even think about it," she said. "We will kill you in an instant."

Garrosh moved forward, Gorehowl in his hands.

"That blade had better not be poisoned," said Baine. "If it is, your death will not be swift, but very painful."

Nobody said anything as the two orcs faced each other. Sylvanas moved to stand next to Faith, unconsciously taking her hand. Faith squeezed her fingers.

"You will never beat me," said Garrosh to Thrall. "And you will die today, old shaman." He struck, but Thrall parried the blow with Doomhammer. Lightning crackled around him, but didn't strike.

Garrosh struck again, and again, and again. But Thrall parried each of his moves, not even breaking a sweat. He attacked as well, and Garrosh moved away with snarls and insults. Everyone watching was on edge, sure that something would happen, that Garrosh would cheat somehow.

"Garrosh doesn't have the advantage here," said Lor'themar in a low voice. "He won't stand for that much longer."

That statement proved to be true. Five minutes later, when nothing had happened except for the two orcs getting winded, Garrosh kicked Thrall away, hard, and ran towards a massive chest at one end of the room.

"What's he doing?" cried Sylvanas.

Faith had a horrible sense of foreboding.

Garrosh opened the chest, and something massive came out of it. Made of what appeared to be violet shadows, it suddenly engulfed Garrosh and exploded out towards them.

Acting on instinct, Sylvanas leapt onto Faith, shielding her from whatever it was. Faith screamed out her name as a frigid wind rushed over them like a huge black wave. Several others cried out. Weapons clattered to the ground, and the few people who hadn't braced themselves were flung backwards.

The darkness dissipated. Sylvanas, still lying protectively on top of Faith, raised her head, looking down at her and discovering that her lover had activated an arcane shield at the last possible second, protecting the two of them from the blast.

"Did I distract you again?" Faith asked her quietly.

Sylvanas smiled a little before getting up and helping Faith get to her feet. Together, they took a look at the scene before them. Their eyes widened.

Garrosh and his companions had grown. Violet growths had appeared on their skin, like they had on Malkorok's. They looked darker, more powerful, and definitely more dangerous.

"Y'shaarj," whispered Sylvanas.

Garrosh had somehow fused himself with the Old God, sharing his power with the orcs still loyal to him. He laughed, the sound quite unlike an orc's normal laughter. It sounded sinister, clotted with hatred.

The orcs attacked. There were only two dozen of them altogether, but each one of them was so strong that just one person wasn't able to fight any one of them alone. One of them made directly for Faith and Sylvanas, sending out bolts of freezing shadow. The two of them got out of the way just in time, both of them swinging their blades. Faith cast a spell, engulfing the orc in black fire, but to her horror, he just absorbed it.

"Oh, this is not good," she muttered. "Sylvanas, get to Garrosh. Go! We'll handle the others!"

Sylvanas nodded, joining the other leaders of the Horde and the Alliance as they converged upon the warchief. Faith stayed with the orc she was fighting, and was quickly joined by Rotvine, Haldren, and Velien.

They attacked, but nothing they did made any kind of difference. The orc snarled at them, foam dripping from his fangs. He swung an axe that was thicker than Faith's body at them, nearly catching them all with one swipe.

"Faith, you remember what we did in Icecrown against Arthas?" asked Rotvine as they all jumped backwards.

"Yes!"

"I'll use arcane, you use fire, and Haldren, you infuse Velien's arrows with the Light. We'll see if that works."

"It's worth a shot," cried Velien. "Let's do it!"

They did. Faith and Rotvine began casting their spells, just as Velien shot a light-infused arrow into the orc. The arrow hit the orc's shoulder and shattered on impact, releasing its spell, which, combined with the arcane and fire magics, was enough to kill the creature immediately. He froze in his tracks, looked at them in surprise, and exploded into dozens of shards of light and shadow.

A cry went up from the other people fighting the orcs as they saw what had happened. Less than ten minutes later, only Garrosh remained, breathing heavily as he fought off continued attacks from every leader around him.

"It seems that you are not as powerful as you were hoping you were," said Varian to Garrosh. "Stand down!"

"Never!" cried Garrosh. He raised Gorehowl, meaning to kill whoever was in front of him but everyone assembled around him reacted quickly. Velen cast a spell on Sylvanas' bow and arrows and she prepared to fire. Jaina and Thrall began casting arcane and fire spells, and Tyrande started calling down Elune's light.

They attacked.

The resulting explosion shook the entire chamber. Everyone was blasted backwards, without exception, as the arrows and spells hit the shadows covering Garrosh's body. Faith hit the wall of the chamber with back-breaking force, and might have been seriously hurt had she not had the presence of mind to shield herself.

She got up, badly shaken, but unhurt. Around her, everyone did the same, some helping the ones who had been injured, while others healed themselves with a spell.

Garrosh was down. Still alive, it seemed as though the spells had been enough to break his connection with Y'shaarj, weakening him considerably. Gorehowl lay several feet away from him.

Sylvanas was the first of the leaders on her feet. Before anybody could even understand what was happening, she had launched herself and Garrosh, kicking every part of him that she could reach. She looked absolutely enraged, screaming incoherently as she hit him over and over again.

"By the Light!"

"Sylvanas, stop!"

"YOU HAD HER KILLED, YOU WORTHLESS BASTARD!" she shrieked, making everyone wince, aiming a kick at his face.

Lor'themar and Atalo ran to her, bodily dragging her away from Garrosh. She fought tooth and nail to get away from them, and nearly managed it. Only when Faith came up from behind and put her arms around her did the fight go out of her. She collapsed to the floor, her cries turning into ghastly sobs that filled the chamber for a moment.

"Sylvanas," said Faith in a whisper, holding the queen tightly. Sylvanas turned around in Faith's arms, crying into her neck. Around her, most people looked away, not knowing what to say. A few paces from them, Vereesa's eyes were filled with tears. She took a step forward, as though wanting to go to her sister, then pulled her foot back, unsure. Faith was speaking softly to her, rubbing her back and kissing the shell of her ear. The only words everyone heard were "I love you."

It took some time, but Sylvanas finally got up. She looked fragile, unlike the woman everyone was used to seeing. Beside her, Faith also looked different, stronger, wanting to protect the one she loved from further harm.

Thrall glanced at them before turning his gaze to Garrosh, who was still on the floor. "For everything that you did, Garrosh, I sentence you to death. You will never hurt a living soul again." He raised Doomhammer, but Varian took several quick steps forward and stopped him.

"No. I should kill him for what he did to Theramore and to my son."

"You have no claim to him, Varian," said Thrall.

"Nor do you!"

Faith shook her head, pressing herself against Sylvanas' side, "If we're going to fight over who gets to kill Garrosh, I'll sic you back on him."

Sylvanas gave a watery laugh, her arm tight around Faith's shoulders. She was quickly regaining her composure, her eyes beginning to glow fiercely again.

Thrall and Varian were beginning to have a shouting match when someone walked amongst them, separating them forcefully. It was Taran Zhu, and he was looking at them with distaste.

"All of us in this room have claim to him, for there isn't a race here that he has not harmed. But we will not pass judgment upon him without a trial."

"A  _trial_?" cried Sylvanas, her voice back to normal now. "He gave Faith no trial before sentencing her to death!"

Faith tightened her grip on her, "Baby, please," she said quietly. "Calm yourself."

Looking outraged, Sylvanas rounded on Faith, ready to scream.

"I  _know_ , Sylvanas. You need not scream how you feel about it. I know. And it's okay."

Sylvanas' eyes touched Faith's orange ones. Of course Faith knew. She was in the unique position of being fully aware of what Sylvanas was experiencing.

_I'm sorry, love. I don't know what's come over me._

Faith smiled gently.  _You're emotional. So was I when I killed Arthas, remember? This is the first time you can actually give voice to how you feel._

_Well, I don't like it. It makes me vulnerable._

"Are they communicating telepathically or something?" asked Malfurion curiously, his eyes on them.

"They do that sometimes," replied Halduron before turning back towards the group in front of Garrosh.

Taran Zhu was speaking again, "Lady Sylvanas may not feel that he deserves a trial, but that is the way of the August Celestials. Garrosh Hellscream will be tried for his crimes in Pandaria. His fate will be decided at the Temple of the White Tiger in a month's time."

Jaina sighed, "Fine," she said. She extended her hand and magical ropes tied themselves tightly around Garrosh's body.

"Thank you," said the pandaren, taking one end of the rope and leading him away from them, looking like the world's ugliest pet.

Everyone watched them leave through a portal that pandaren mages conjured for them.

It was over. They had defeated Garrosh Hellscream. Feeling oddly exhausted, Faith nearly fell to the ground, unable to believe they had survived through such an ordeal.

"There is another matter we need to tend to," said Jaina.

"What matter?" asked Thrall, wary.

" _Her_  crimes against the people of Southshore and Gilneas!" she pointed her staff at Sylvanas.

Faith jumped, stepping in front of Sylvanas without a second thought. "What are you talking about?"

"She destroyed the village of Southshore, and invaded Gilneas without provocation!"

"Garrosh wanted us to invade Gilneas," said Rotvine, coming forward. "There was absolutely no way for any of us to refuse to do that without risking execution for treason."

"And your use of the Plague? Are you denying that she ordered you to deploy it?"

Sylvanas was trying to move Faith out of the way, but Faith wouldn't budge. "We don't deny anything, Jaina. I offer no excuses for Sylvanas' actions." She moved with Sylvanas, still shielding her.

"Jaina, lower your staff," said Varian, exasperated. "Fine,  _Garrosh_  ordered you to invade Gilneas. And Southshore?"

"Southshore is in Lordaeron, which belongs to the Forsaken."

"It belongs to humans!"

"The humans of Lordaeron are dead," said Sylvanas, finally able to step around Faith and gripping her hand hard to keep her from moving. "The ones who remain are loyal to me, and the land is theirs, not yours."

"What about Andorhal?" asked Jaina, pointing her staff at Sylvanas again.

"What about it?" snapped Sylvanas.

"You decimated the Alliance forces there using the Val'kyr!"

"The Alliance attacked us first," said Faith quietly.

"Oh ho! Are you saying that you wouldn't have attacked us had the chance not presented itself?"

Sylvanas shrugged, "I guess we'll never know that, will we?"

Jaina rounded on Varian, "Are you telling me that you're not going to punish  _anybody_  for what happened in Theramore?" she cried.

"Sylvanas had  _nothing_  to do with Theramore!" said Faith, stepping forward again.

Jaina began to cast a spell, and Faith put up both her hands, causing a shimmering shield to wrap itself around Sylvanas. "No! You can't blame Sylvanas for everything that's happened to your people Jaina! We suffered too with what happened in Theramore! I lost my mentor during that attack, and because I helped Vereesa and Shandris escape, not to mention some children, I lost my own  _life_!"

"And the Wrathgate?"

Faith reeled back, as though slapped, "The Wrathgate?" she asked, incredulous. "You're bringing that up  _now_?"

"Honestly, are you planning on blaming everything bad that's happened over the past few years on Sylvanas?" asked Lor'themar, coming forward with a frown on his face. "Be reasonable."

"She shouldn't be allowed to  _live_! She's an abomination!" She cast her spell so quickly that almost nobody saw it, but Faith and Rotvine, moving faster than they normally would have done, countered it. The spell bounced off the shield, which exploded into tiny darts of light.

"Don't you  _dare_ ," snarled Faith. "You touch her, Jaina… you touch her and I will kill you, do you understand? I will  _kill_   _you_. All these years, and I never once blamed you for what happened to us, but you were partially responsible, weren't you?"

Jaina stared at her. "For what? I didn't do anything."

"Exactly. You never did  _anything_  to stop Arthas. The Light began to forsake him after he went to Stratholme, did it not? You had a chance then to do something, to turn him back to the right path, but you never did!"

There was a ringing silence.

Faith stepped closer to Jaina, knocking the staff out of her hands, "You  _left_  him. You left him when he probably needed you the most! Instead of staying and doing everything you could to help him, you  _left_ , and in so doing, you helped damn my homeland to its fate."

A cold hand slipped itself into Faith's, squeezing once and pulling her away from Jaina. Faith obeyed without question.

Thrall cleared his throat, looking uncomfortable at the turn the conversation had taken. "This is not the place to debate the crimes everyone here has committed."

"But it is," said Varian. "We've stopped one person from running this world into the ground. There is no doubt in my mind that the Forsaken are a dangerous people. They should have never been allowed to live after the Scourge raised them."

"And that is not your place to decide," Thrall told him. "Our warchief will decide that."

"Your  _warchief_ ," snarled Greymane, "is on his way to the Pandaria prisons."

"He is not our warchief," said Thrall. He looked at each of the Horde leaders assembled, and his eyes fell on Vol'jin. "Give us a moment, Lo'Gosh."

Varian shook his head, "This is ridiculous."

Thrall beckoned the leaders of the Horde closer. Sylvanas brought Faith along, refusing to release her.

"I have my idea as to who the new leader of the Horde should be."

"Who?" asked Gallywix, who had been silent this entire time.

"I should think it was obvious," he said, nodding to Vol'jin.

Vol'jin's skin paled, "No… I cannot be… I be not worthy."

"Of course you're worthy," said Baine.

"It's no contest, Vol'jin," said Faith, forgetting that she wasn't technically supposed to speak. "We'll follow you, gladly." Sylvanas elbowed her, and she looked down apologetically.

"She's right," said the queen after a moment, although her tone suggested she was skeptical.

"You're the best person for the job," said Lor'themar.

Vol'jin looked at them each, "I… I cannot lead da Horde. You know I cannot."

"We know no such thing, old friend," said Thrall. "And we're here to help you if you need it. You won't be alone."

"Well, Thrall?" asked Varian loudly. "Are you ready?"

They all looked at Vol'jin, who took a deep breath and nodded, standing up straight. The others backed away from him, bowing once. "I speak for da Horde now," he told Varian. "And we will handle our own matters with regards to da Forsaken."

The high king of Stormwind looked stunned. Faith could see at least ten different emotions playing on his face. After a few moments, his eyes hardened, "Fine. But if they put one more toe out of line, Stormwind's retribution will be swift." He turned to Jaina, "Get us out of here."

Jaina gave a nod and shot Faith a smug look before beginning to create a portal big enough to allow all of the members of the Alliance to get back to the Gates of Orgrimmar. Vereesa gazed at Sylvanas and Faith before she stepped through it, giving them the briefest of waves.

Baine gave a loud sigh once the Alliance was gone. "An'she save us, that was not an easy thing."

"Do you really blame Jaina for what happened in Quel'Thalas?" Sylvanas asked Faith quietly.

"Yeah, what was that about?" wondered Lor'themar.

Faith shrugged, "I blame a lot of people for what happened in Quel'Thalas. Jaina abandoning Arthas at the gates of Stratholme was a defining moment for him, and if she hadn't done it, maybe we would have had a chance to save our home, we'll never know."

"Okay, but to accuse her like that… you went a little far."

"I'll go as far as I need to go to keep someone from harming you," Faith told Sylvanas.

Sylvanas brushed a lock of white hair from Faith's forehead, "That's my line."

"We're going to have to find a way to get the Plague out of Gilneas," said Thrall. "If only to keep Varian out of our hair."

Sylvanas grit her teeth, but had the good sense not to say anything about it.

"I'll look into that," said Faith. "I helped make the last batch after all."

"Thank you, Faith," said Vol'jin. "I suppose we should be getting out of here as well."

They left shortly thereafter, having mentioned to Vol'jin that there were still people with the devilsaur. He went to investigate with a few pandaren, instructing everyone to take portals to get back to Orgrimmar.

"What do you think they'll do to it?" Faith asked Sylvanas as they waited to step through a portal.

"To it, nothing. But if they take your suggestion, they'll send it home, although I'm not entirely sure how they're going to do that. Just like I'm not fully sure of how you're going to end up cleaning Gilneas."

Faith looked at her, "Are you upset that I volunteered for the job?"

"No, but I think that your talents would be better spent elsewhere."

"If this keeps you off the executioner's block, I can't think of a better use of my time, Sylvanas. Your survival is paramount."

"They won't execute me, is that what you're afraid of?"

"Every day."

They stepped through the portal together, landing just at the gates. Quickly, they walked some distance away for the other people arriving.

"You have nothing to worry about. Jaina just wanted revenge for what happened in Theramore, and I made a convenient target since she couldn't kill Garrosh."

"I don't know about that. I don't like the way Varian was looking at you."

Sylvanas put an arm around her, "Varian won't hurt you. You've helped his son more than once, and I don't think he takes that lightly."

"So you're saying that everything I've done so far has helped you." Faith chuckled, "It's true that I do almost everything with you in mind, but sometimes, I do things because they feel right, whether or not you're in the picture."

"Oh, you hurt me," said Sylvanas, comically placing a hand on her chest and pretending to be mortally wounded. She grew serious again, "You have a big heart. Nobody can say that you don't, even now that you're a Forsaken. You've done a lot of things because you love me, and I'm perfectly conscious of that. But you've also done a lot of things because you care about Azeroth as a whole."

"You always come first."

A smile, "I know." She pulled Faith closer, "I don't show it as often as I should, but you always come first for me too. I love you."

"I love you."

Their lips met in passion, and in that moment, everything seemed to fall into place, a peace they had been craving for so long, just within reach.

Something to hold on to.

**The End**

* * *

**Thank Yous**

It's hard to believe that more than two years have passed since I started writing about the adventures of Faith and Sylvanas in Azeroth. I never thought that they would take me this far, although I had everything planned when I started writing.

I'm so grateful that you all stuck by me as I wrote the sequel to Fall and Rebirth. I know it hasn't been an easy journey, but I think that you enjoyed it (unless I'm no longer as perceptive as I thought I was!).

Thank you to everyone who's reviewed each chapter I've posted, and who offered me various bits of insight and advice! I've sincerely appreciated everything, even if you started reviewing and then stopped. Thank you.

Stay tuned for the final part of this trilogy:  **Evermore**! I'll be posting chapter one for that very soon!

Lots of love,  
Lunarelle


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